Referees chief Mike Riley has announced that he will step down as general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) next season.
The 57-year-old has been in the role since 2009 which he took on following his own 20-year career as an elite referee but confirmed his departure from the role on Saturday following a report from the Telegraph. Riley’s decision to leave PGMOL is another step in wide-ranging changes for Premier League refereeing, with long-serving officials Mike Dean, Jon Moss, Kevin Friend and Martin Atkinson also not returning for the 2022/23 season after retiring.
His time in charge of PGMOL will mostly be remembered for overseeing the introduction of the often contentious video assistant refereeing system (VAR) in 2019, which he regularly came in for criticism from top-flight clubs as he struggled to deal with its associated challenges. The Telegraph also reported that several Premier League clubs were pushing for there to be a change at PGMOL following what they believed to be too many mistakes under Riley’s tenure.
