FA make Newcastle United & Leeds United official decisions after 'horrible' Chelsea controversy

The FA Cup match officials have been confirmed for Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United at Ewood Park on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off).

Jarred Gillett will referee the match as Newcastle look to progress to the quarter-final of the FA Cup for only the second time in the last 18 years. The Magpies have progressed to the last-16 of the competition following a 3-0 win at Sunderland and 2-0 win at Fulham in the third and fourth rounds respectively but they head into the match having lost 4-1 at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Gillett officiated Newcastle's penalty shootout defeat at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter-final in December. The Australian referee allowed Moises Caicedo to escape with a yellow card for an early challenge on Anthony Gordon that Magpies head coach Eddie Howe deemed 'horrible' after the match.

With no VAR in place in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, Gillett's on-field decision stood. Levi Colwill also avoided a potential red card for a high challenge on Emil Krafth which forced the defender off at half-time.

There will also be no VAR in place at Ewood Park due to Blackburn being in the Championship. VAR is used in the FA Cup wherever possible but this is mostly limited to Premier League grounds who already have the technology in place.

Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from a Carabao Cup final defeat when they host Leeds United at Stamford Bridge. David Coote will referee the match and be assisted by Timothy Wood and Craig Taylor.

Back at Ewood Park, Gillett will be assisted by Darren Cann and Wade Smith with Stephen Martin as fourth official. Fans may also be familiar with the name Stephen Martin, who is the referee who infamously sent off two Newcastle players and awarded two penalties to Nottingham Forest in a 2-1 defeat at the City Ground back in 2016.

Jonjo Shelvey and Paul Dummett were both harshly dismissed in the match while Karl Darlow saved both penalties only for Matt Ritchie's first-half opener to be cancelled out by goals from Niklas Bendtner and a Jamaal Lascelles own goal.

Here is the full list of match official appointments for the FA Cup fifth round... 1 Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistant referees: Darren Cann & Wade Smith

Fourth official: Stephen Martin 2 Chelsea v Leeds United

Referee: David Coote

Assistant referees: Timothy Wood & Craig Taylor

Fourth official: Dean Whitestone

VAR: Graham Scott

Support VAR: Peter Bankes

Assistant VAR: Edward Smart 3 AFC Bournemouth v Leicester City

Referee: Paul Tierney

Assistant referees: Scott Ledger & Sian Massey-Ellis

Fourth official: Tim Robinson

VAR: Darren England

Support VAR: Michael Oliver

Assistant VAR: Timothy Wood 4 Liverpool v Southampton

Referee: Craig Pawson

Assistant referees: Adam Nunn & Steven Meredith

Fourth official: Rebecca Welch

VAR: Tony Harrington

Support VAR: Stuart Attwell

Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt

5 Nottingham Forest v Manchester United

Referee: Christopher Kavanagh

Assistant referees: Neil Davies & Akil Howson

Fourth official: David Webb

VAR: Darren Bond

Support VAR: Michael Salisbury

Assistant VAR: Daniel Robathan 6 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion

Referee: Andrew Madley

Assistant referees: Nick Hopton & Nick Greenhalgh

Fourth official: Sam Barrett

VAR: Anthony Taylor

Support VAR: John Brooks

Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett 7 Coventry City v Maidstone United

Referee: Michael Salisbury

Assistant referees: Lee Betts & Mark Stevens

Fourth official: Andrew Kitchen 8 Luton Town v Manchester City

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Assistant referees: Marc Perry & Shaun Hudson

Fourth official: Simon Hooper

VAR: Thomas Bramall

Support VAR: Robert Jones

Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes