Arsenal to contact Pro Ref over Konsa penalty

Arsenal are set to contact Pro Ref, the professional refereeing body, to seek an explanation for the penalty awarded after Ezri Konsa conceded a spot-kick in Saturday’s win over Sunderland, BBC Sport reports.

The incident came inside the box after Konsa and Dan Ballard had a physical exchange. The Arsenal defender was adjudged to have committed a holding foul on Ballard for excessive grip, leading to the penalty decision.

Arteta: “Not acceptable”

After the match, manager Mikel Arteta tore into the ruling. Arsenal want clarity on how the call was reached—especially because the decision was first given by referee John Brooks and then backed up by VAR.

As stated by the Premier League Match Centre, the referee’s call of a penalty for Konsa’s holding offence on Ballard was “checked and confirmed by VAR”. Even so, Arteta said he could not make sense of it: “This is not acceptable at this level. I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they think to give a penalty in that situation, or the way the VAR has to intervene.” He added that such calls can change the course of a season and affect the title race.

BBC Sport also notes that Match of the Day pundits Ashley Williams and Thomas Frank argued Sunderland shouldn’t have been awarded the penalty, with Williams saying the incident was not a penalty and that Arsenal should instead have had a free-kick.

The next step, according to the report, is that Arsenal will hold discussions with Pro Ref to understand the reasoning behind why the spot-kick was given.