Academics have proved what team managers have been griping about for years - Premier League referees are inconsistent and favour home teams. After studying 2,660 English Premier League games over several seasons, researchers found referees were statistically more likely to show yellow and red cards to the away team.
The study also discovered that some referees are significantly more likely to punish players than others. The researchers from the universities of Bath, Otago in New Zealand, St Andrews and Wales, Bangor, took into account home advantage, game importance and crowd size.
"Managers have been right to highlight inconsistencies and controversial decisions in games, but without a proper analysis of refereeing decisions over a period of time, their comments look like the usual post-match gripe, especially if they are on the losing side," said Dr Peter Dawson, an Economics lecturer at the University of Bath.
The research also found that underdogs received more yellow and red cards than favourites. The number of offences tended to be higher towards the end fo the season when evenly-matched teams played in games with a lot at stake.