We are requesting removal of Michael Oliver from the position of VAR for the upcoming FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Manchester United. While we do not question Oliver's integrity or competence (he is a world class referee), there are conflict of interest concerns that may bring the game into disrepute. 

Excerpt from The Athletic:

‘Allowing a group of PGMOL officials to fly to the UAE last week to take charge of a match between Sharjah and Al-Ain — Oliver as referee, Stuart Burt and Cook as assistants, England as VAR — looks inadvisable in the extreme. Not because of doubts about integrity among the officials or the authorities in the UAE, but because having referees on the payroll of another league, with close links to the ownership of Premier League clubs, inevitably brings an extra level of scrutiny that match officials really could do without’.

With the above in mind, there appears to be potential breach of the FA's ‘Regulations for the Registration and Control of Referees’, which states that a referee has an obligation to decline an appointment if he has a "material interest" conflicting with his duties.

To ensure fairness and integrity in officiating, we urge the PGMOL to appoint an alternative VAR for the FA Cup final.

NB: 

This has nothing to do with the eventual outcome of the match or the belief that changing the VAR can give one of the teams a better or worse chance. 

We absolutely condemn and are against abuse towards referees; their jobs are hard enough as it is.

Full Article:

https://theathletic.com/4922732/2023/10/03/referees-var-diaz-liverpool/