Referee Chris Kavanagh and his assistant Nick Greenhalgh have stepped down after Newcastle’s errors in the FA Cup

Referee Chris Kavanagh and his assistant Nick Greenhalgh have not been selected for this weekend’s Premier League match.

The duo were heavily criticized for their decisions in the FA Cup fourth round match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United on Saturday, in which there was no video assistant referee.

VAR will not be implemented until the fifth round.

The Professional Match Officials (PGMO) bases its selections on factors including post-match performance evaluations conducted by an independent panel for major match incidents, ensuring referees are held accountable.

Among the errors, Kavanagh and Greenhalgh missed a clear offside challenge against Tammy Abraham to score Villa’s opening goal.

A potential red card was also shown to Lucas Digne for a challenge on Jacob Murphy, along with a possible offside call against Dan Byrne in Newcastle’s equaliser.

But it was Digne’s decision not to award a penalty that left most people speechless.

The Villa full-back was two yards inside the box when he was penalized for handball, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh decided the offense was a yard outside the box and awarded a free kick – from which Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali scored the equalizer in the 63rd minute.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney said it was “one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen”.

However, despite the criticism, Kavanagh is highly regarded, and in December he was promoted to UEFA’s elite list of referees, joining Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.

Another Villa Park assistant, Gary Beswick, has been named for Nottingham Forest’s match against Liverpool on Sunday.