A Premier League Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has unanimously decided that the penalty awarded to Sunderland against Arsenal on 12 September was the wrong call.
Referee John Brooks pointed to the spot after judging that Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa had held Sunderland’s Dan Ballard during a set-piece. Goalkeeper David Raya saved the resulting penalty from Enzo Le Fée, and Arsenal went on to win the match 2-0.
The five-member independent panel reviewed the incident and agreed 5-0 that a penalty should not have been given. Their assessment noted that while Konsa initially had his arms around Ballard in an untidy challenge, Ballard also engaged in a holding action that pulled Konsa onto him, causing both players to go to the ground.
Despite finding the on-field decision incorrect, the panel voted 3-2 that video assistant referee Stuart Attwell was right not to intervene. The majority view was that the combined actions of both players meant the error did not reach the “clear and obvious” threshold required for VAR to recommend an on-field review.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had strongly criticised the decision after the match, describing it as “unacceptable” and questioning how it could stand at this level of the game.
Other key rulings from the same panel review
In the same set of Key Match Incidents findings, the panel unanimously ruled that Erling Haaland’s winning goal in Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United should have been disallowed for offside.
They also fully supported the red card shown to Phil Foden in that match, while noting that Bruno Fernandes should have received a yellow card for his involvement in the incident that led to Foden’s dismissal.
The KMI Panel is an independent body made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative, and one representative from PGMOL (the organisation that oversees refereeing in English professional football). Its role is to review significant refereeing and VAR decisions after matches and provide transparent assessments.
These reviews do not change the results of matches but aim to improve consistency and accountability in decision-making across the Premier League.
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