The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has officially supported the match officials' polarizing decision to deny Manchester United winger Amad Diallo a penalty during last month's draw against Bournemouth.
The incident took place at a critical juncture of the March 20 clash at the Vitality Stadium. Amad went down inside the penalty area after Bournemouth defender Adrien Truffert appeared to place both hands on his back. Referee Stuart Attwell immediately waved away the appeals. Adding to United's frustration, Bournemouth launched a rapid counter-attack that resulted in Ryan Christie's 67th-minute equalizer, instantly shifting the momentum from a potential 2-0 United lead to a 1-1 deadlock.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Craig Pawson subsequently checked the play but ultimately cleared Truffert's challenge, determining that Attwell had not made a clear and obvious error.
Following a review of the match, the KMI Panel delivered a split 3-2 verdict backing the on-field decision to let play continue. According to the panel's findings, while Truffert took a risk with his challenge, the physical contact was "not impactful and therefore below the high threshold for a foul."
However, the panel was not entirely unified. Two dissenting members argued that Truffert's intervention was a "non-footballing" action and insisted a penalty should have been awarded. Despite this disagreement over the foul itself, the panel voted unanimously (5-0) that VAR was correct to stay out of it, citing the league's strict threshold for overturning subjective on-field calls.
Manchester United staff and players were left furious by the officiating, prompting the club to indicate they would file a formal complaint with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). The core of United's grievance centers on inconsistency, as two other penalties were awarded during the very same match for similar holding offenses.
Manager Michael Carrick voiced his total confusion after the game, specifically comparing the Amad incident to an earlier penalty awarded after Alex Jimenez pulled down Matheus Cunha.
"So the Cunha one, he gives, the second one on Amad he doesn't, which is, I think, almost identical, really, two hands on someone in the box, and they go over and they're in control of the ball," Carrick argued. "Massive moment and I don't understand how you can give one and not the other - it's crazy. It's as obvious as you can get. It's clear, if that's what he believes is a penalty to start with then the second one has to be."
Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer strongly agreed with the manager's assessment of the referee's glaring inconsistency.
"You should have given a penalty when you gave two like that. How on earth do you not give another one," Shearer noted.
Addressing the controversy, the KMI Panel also reviewed the earlier penalty call involving Cunha, voting 5-0 that the referee was correct to point to the spot because Jimenez "clearly pulls the shirt of Cunha in a non-footballing manner."