Tottenham boss Antonio Conte questions standard of Premier League refereeing after North London derby defeat

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has criticised the standard of Premier League refereeing and urged officials to meet on a more regular basis to improve their performances.

Spurs were beaten 3-1 at Arsenal on Saturday as Thomas Partey opened the scoring before Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot, only for Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka to complete a commanding win for the home side at Emirates Stadium.

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Emerson Royal was sent off when Tottenham were 2-1 down for a late challenge on Gabriel Martinelli, a decision Conte claimed “killed the game” before condemning the officiating throughout the league.

“Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are unlucky,” Conte said. “The red card killed the game, this is truth, but not because we remained with 10 men but because [our] team [which was] really, really offensive and also in the four or five minutes to make the substitutions, we were so offensive that it was really difficult to defend and we conceded the third goal.

“I don’t know what happened later but in England, I have to be honest, it is very difficult because they don’t have the same line, you understand? Sometimes you see situations that could be a red card, instead yellow card or no yellow card.

Antonio Conte saw his Tottenham team come unstuck against Arsenal. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

“Sometimes you see situations that are yellow card but instead [there is] a red card. They have to work a lot about this. In Italy for example, our referees they go on Thursday to stay together [for] three days to work together, to look at video to try to improve.

“I don’t know if this happens in England but it would be a good idea because the [playing] level is so high, we need to have the level of the referee, of the VAR, at the same level, you understand, because the Premier League is a really high, high level. For this reason, every part of this situation, in my opinion, has to be top.”