Manager James Maddison has claimed officials are “scared” of making decisions after being denied an injury-time penalty against Leeds.
Maddison was challenged by Leeds striker Lucas Nmeka in the penalty area in the 103rd minute with Spurs drawing 1-1, but referee Jared Gillett and VAR rejected the appeal.
According to Premier League Match Center, officials felt Nmeka had enough touches on the ball to justify not being awarded a penalty.
Madison wrote on her Instagram account Tuesday night. “Just to be clear…the small, small touch on the ball to change direction came from the outside of my right foot, not from Nmeka, and I conveyed that to the referee.
“But the check lasted about 20 seconds. Officials are scared to make decisions on the pitch because of VAR.”
“We will continue to fight. COYS.”
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Largest VAR call in 24 hours! Should Spurs have been given a penalty of 90+13?
Had it been granted, Spurs would have had a chance to extend their lead over 18th-placed West Ham to four points from 12 yards with two games remaining. In the process, they have made great progress toward survival.
Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi said referee Gillett, who earlier awarded Leeds a penalty for Matthijs Tell’s overhead kick, was “not calm” during the match.
The controversy over the officiating of the match came just over 24 hours after West Ham’s 95th-minute equalizer against Arsenal was canceled out for a foul on David Raya by striker Pablo inside the area. The case took more than four minutes to adjudicate.
O’Hara: That’s a clear penalty.
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara reacted to the incident on Sky Sports Fan Club, adding: “It’s a penalty. I’m sorry but I don’t care what anyone says.”
“Can you show me this from a million different angles? Where does the ball move? I don’t think there’s enough movement between the ball and the players. The ball doesn’t move. That’s a penalty.”
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Jamie O’Hara can’t understand why the referee didn’t award Tottenham Hotspur a penalty after James Maddison collapsed in the box following a challenge from Lucas Nmeka against Leeds United
“He bottled it up, that referee. We saw a crazy call the other day against West Ham and it was a foul. But they took their time with that decision. They looked at it for five minutes. They looked at[Nmeka’s]challenge for 30 seconds and continued playing.”
There were 49 seconds after the challenge on Maddison before referee Gillett received word that his on-field “no penalty” call was correct.
Is it okay for the mechanical part to touch the ball?
Jared Gillett dismisses Spurs penalty appeal against Leeds
The first sign that Gillett was convinced Nmeka had played the ball was his decision to award a corner after Maddison’s challenge had been made. There was also a linesman on the touchline to help make those decisions.
However, in the past there have been cases where penalties were awarded even though a defender touched the ball.
In January 2025, Arsenal’s William Saliba was penalized for awarding Brighton’s Joao Pedro a penalty despite the centre-back heading the ball before making contact with the attacker on his follow-through.
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PGMOL chairman Howard Webb admitted the penalty incident involving William Saliba and Joao Pedro during Brighton’s match against Arsenal was unusual, but agreed that the Frenchman had committed a foul.
PGMO chief Howard Webb justified the penalty decision, arguing that touching the ball does not invalidate a penalty, especially when follow-through is concerned.
“Just because you touched the ball doesn’t negate the possibility of a penalty being awarded,” Webb said of the Saliba incident.
“We’ve seen other instances where the ball may have touched a player, but there was hard contact on the follow-through, resulting in a penalty.”
