'Embarrassing' - Ex-PGMOL chief hits out at failure of tech he rolled out in Tottenham vs Palace

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has criticised the continued communication failure happening for officials across the Premier League.

Tottenham were trailing Crystal Palace 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, when similar issues began for referee Andrew Madley that impacted Peter Bankes during the North London derby defeat to Arsenal last month.

The additional time added on at the end was not enough for Spurs in the end, who fell to a 3-1 defeat that sees them continue languishing just outside the bottom three.

But similar issues keep arising across the division, and Hackett has now criticised the PGMOL for the continuing failures.

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PGMOL questioned after technology failure during Tottenham defeat

By the time the incident took place with just under 15 minutes of the 90 remaining, Tottenham were down and out thanks to a double from Ismaila Sarr, and a strike from Jorgen Strand Larsen.

But once again, technology issues plagued the officials in North London.

Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, former PGMOL chief Hackett suggested that there could be multiple reasons behind the ongoing issues.

“I was responsible for introducing communication kits into the world of football referees,” he said. “This was following a visit to Twickenham to see it in action.

“This is not the first time this season that the game has had to be stopped because of a failure of the system.”

“The PGMOL must liaise with their current suppliers to determine why these breakdowns are occurring,” added Hackett, adamant that not all of the blame lies with the technology itself.

“It is so important that after a game, the system is dried off before placing it in the storage containers. Referees are responsible for installing new batteries before every game. It may well be that the PGMOL need to replace some of the older pieces of kit.”

It would not be the only incident with the officials on the night, with goalscorer Sarr initially having a goal disallowed just moments before Dominic Solanke’s opener, before Micky Van de Ven’s first-half red card completely altered the flow of proceedings.

“It’s embarrassing for the PGMOL that these breakdowns are taking place,” he concluded.

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Technology failures don’t distract from woeful Tottenham defeat

Thursday’s failures, though, simply do not distract from what was another woeful Tottenham display.

Spurs took the lead for the first time under Igor Tudor, with Solanke’s goal putting the Lilywhites on track for their first league win in 2026.

Though once again, Tottenham imploded, with Van de Ven’s lackadaisical red card handing control of the clash to Crystal Palace immediately.

Tottenham are in serious trouble, and have shown no signs of recovering either under Tudor, or in the immediate future either.

With their next league outing against Liverpool sandwiched by two Champions League legs against Atletico Madrid, things don’t get any easier for Spurs.

In the coming weeks, the pressure is on the current group to step up and to prove that they are capable of steering the club away from the current predicament that just continues to worsen each week.

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