Michael Oliver lands huge new role as Premier League confirm referee decision amid Arsenal fury

Michael Oliver is set for a new referee role after the Premier League made a surprise announcement on Monday. The 40-year-old has been at the centre of several controversies this season with a number of those involving Arsenal and the majority of those coming in the last few months.

During the Gunners' 1-0 win against Wolves back in late January, Myles Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off for what was deemed by Oliver as a reckless challenge on Matt Doherty.

Wolves were also reduced to ten men late in the game before Riccardo Calafiori went on to score the winner.

"I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you," he said to Sky Sports after the game. "Because it is that obvious, I don't think my words are going to help."

Shortly after that, Oliver showed three red cards after the full-time whistle in the final Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park between Liverpool and Everton. Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones and Arne Slot all served suspensions as a result of their actions.

Further controversies arrived for Oliver in the following weeks when he was forced to make a big decision early into the FA Cup clash between Crystal Palace and Milwall.

Despite it being quite clear that Liam Roberts boot was extremely high and it made contact with Jean-Phillipe Mateta's head, he was only shown a yellow card with VAR intervention needed to upgrade his punishment to a straight red.

In the wake of that,

With one of those being Monday night's fixture between Fulham and Bournemouth, Oliver has not been selected for any of the 12 Premier League games taking place over the next nine days, as officially confirmed by the on Monday.

A big announcement was also made regarding Oliver earlier this week, however, as he has been chosen alongside Anthony Taylor as two of 35 referees to take charge of games at this summer's inaugural Club World Cup.

The two experienced officials are considered to be England's best refs despite some of the big calls they may have got wrong recently.

In a statement, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, said: “As every new competition starts, the selected referees are among those who have the privilege to be part of this for the first time, so I’m sure that all the match officials will be thrilled.

“We are coming from high-standard performances delivered during the last FIFA tournaments. So the bar is higher and when you get the bar higher, it’s more difficult to keep the standard. But we are working very hard and Team One will make a solid contribution to the success of this exciting competition.”

FIFA Director of Refereeing Massimo Busacca added: “I like to compare the preparation of a football team and a referee team because both need to work hard and deliver to the highest standards.

“We try to find as much uniformity and consistency as possible in what we are doing because football is the same everywhere, but we know that we have to understand the different mentality in football, and this is crucial.”