Former Premier League referee Jon Moss left his role with referees' body the PGMOL after clashing with other officials, it has been claimed. Moss, 53, spent more than a decade as a referee in English football's top tier. His final Premier League season came in 2021-22, while he also took charge of the Championship play-off final between Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest. The following year, he was handed a post by the PGMOL as the director of Premier League officials, having initially joined as manager of the group in question. However, he lasted less than a year in his most recent role, leaving this month with immediate effect. According to The Telegraph, his exit followed a "bitter" falling out with a number of leading officials. The same publication notes that referees chief Howard Webb will take over Moss' responsibilities for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Moss was initially appointed to the PGMOL by Mike Riley, before Riley stepped down from his own role at the end of the 2022-23 season. Webb took over from Riley ahead of the current campaign, and has been involved in shining a spotlight on contentious decisions on his Match Officials Mic'd Up show.
According to the Telegraph's report, Moss' departure was mutual, with neither he nor the PGMOL commenting to the publication. “PGMOL would like to thank Jon for his considerable efforts and service during his time at the organisation and wish him all the best for the future," the organisation had earlier said in a statement. The same Telegraph report notes that Moss' responsibilities included "critiquing performances and reviewing decisions". No referees said to have fallen out with him have been named. At the start of the 2023-24 season, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes demanded an apology from Moss in the light of a controversial moment in his team's defeat at Tottenham. United were denied a penalty at 0-0, before going on to lose by two goals to nil. "They have to start making interviews after the games so that they can explain themselves," Fernandes told Stadium Astro. It was a clear penalty, no excuses for not seeing, no excuses for the VAR to not see that. Last week they made a big thing on United not having a penalty against [them]. I want to see what is going to happen this week if it is going to happen the same show they did last week. I want to see if Jon Moss also comes to apologise to our dressing room like they did to the manager of Wolves. I hope he can come.” After the opening weekend of the campaign, Wolves manager Gary O'Neil spoke about Moss' apology after his team was denied a penalty against United. United keeper Andre Onana was ruled not to have fouled Wolves striker Sasa Kalajdzic after a VAR check, angering O'Neil. "Fair play to Moss afterwards for coming out and apologising," the Wolves boss said at the time. "I understand the rules [of sticking with the on field decisions as much as possible], but I don't fully accept it."