The head of the professional referees body, Mike Riley, has issued an apology to Everton after they were denied a penalty in the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday.
The Toffees wrote to the Premier League to complain about the decision when Manchester City midfielder Rodri seemed to use his arm to control the ball.
Neither referee Paul Tierney nor video assistant referee Chris Kavanagh deemed it was worthy of a spot-kick despite complaints from fans and Everton boss Frank Lampard.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) boss Riley called both Lampard and Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright on Monday to apologise for the incident, which could prove costly to the club’s bid to stay in the Premier League.
Everton are 17th in the table, one place and one point above Burnley, who host Leicester in the Premier League on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).
Kavanagh will be the referee for that match.
“We’ve lost a point because of a professional who cannot do his job right. It is so incompetent to get it wrong,” Lampard said following the game at Goodison Park.
