Premier League investigates violent threats against referee Anthony Taylor
The Premier League is looking into vile threats made against Anthony Taylor and his family after he showed a record number of yellow cards in Chelsea’s win at Bournemouth.
Taylor, who on Tuesday was named fourth official for Southampton vs Ipswich Town this Saturday and Brighton and Hove Albion against Nottingham Forest the following day, was targeted by users of social media after he produced 14 yellows for players at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday night and two more for coaching staff, including Enzo Maresca.
Telegraph Sport has been told there is nothing untoward about Taylor not refereeing this weekend and that he has been offered support by Professional Game Match Officials Ltd following the abuse directed at him.
That included comments from one user of social media, who wrote he “needs to be killed and I’m not even joking”. Another added: “Anthony Taylor I will find your family.”
Others appeared to celebrate the prospect of Taylor and his family being “found dead in their homes”.
The Premier League has a policy of looking into such abuse, reporting it to the social media platform on which it has been published, and taking legal action where necessary.
Taylor and his family were attacked by Roma fans after he refereed their Europa League final defeat against Sevilla last year.
Speaking about the incident at Budapest Airport on The High Performance podcast in February, Taylor was asked what he would like to see change and responded: “Just more understanding and more empathy. So again, yes, mistakes are made and we’re far from perfect. Far from perfect. But there’s many other facets that contribute to the result of a football match.
“So maybe reflect. Before you start trying to blame an individual, maybe try and consider. Very difficult, I appreciate, objectively after a team’s loss. Consider the things that go into what’s been decided and try to understand why something has been done.”