The Queens Park Rangers co-owner and vice-chairman, Amit Bhatia, has called for the introduction of a challenge system similar to that used in cricket and tennis after seeing the club eliminated from the FA Cup by Chelsea courtesy of a dubious penalty.

The referee, Mike Dean, awarded the visitors a spot-kick just after the hour on Saturday when Daniel Sturridge fell to the turf under challenge from Clint Hill. Contact appeared minimal, with QPR incensed at the decision as Juan Mata converted the resultant spot-kick.

The Rangers manager, Mark Hughes, said Sturridge had gone down "a little bit easily" and claimed Dean had told his goalkeeper, Paddy Kenny, that he had felt obliged to give the penalty "because the lad was about to head the ball in, which wasn't my take on it, to be perfectly honest".

"A very unfortunate penalty," said Bhatia via Twitter. "I'm convinced it's time to allow the challenge system in football. Almost all other sports around the world allow it now. We have to have some kind of video replay system so that harsh decisions can be reviewed. So much is at stake in every game. In a season when results count, every decision really does matter and I can already think of a few decisions that have cost us points [in the Premier League].

"And it's not just us, but all the other clubs too. Mistakes are made. Decisions are difficult and that's fine, but why not allow those difficult decisions to be reviewed? One challenge per half per manager wouldn't slow the game down by any more than 30 seconds. I think it's got to happen. Every fan and player in the land would appreciate a fair review of a difficult decision. It's not rocket science. And my rant isn't about today's decision. It's a general observation about football and applies to us all who want fairer decisions."

Those sentiments were shared by the QPR captain, Joey Barton, who described the penalty award as "very, very soft" having seen footage of the incident. "Sturridge stepping on that landmine does not help the ref, either," he tweeted. "This is why referees should be allowed to look at penalty and red card decisions during the game. These things are happening every week now. Something needs to be done. [It's] ruining the game."

QPR hope to strengthen their squad ahead of the closure of the transfer window on Tuesday night, with attempts ongoing are to recruit the former Liverpool and Sunderland striker Djibril Cissé from Lazio, and have completed a loan move for Nancy's Mali midfielder Samba Diakité. The latter was granted permission on Sunday to fly from Gabon, where he is competing in the Africa Cup of Nations, to undergo a medical with the Londoners and finalise a move.The Nancy president, Jacques Rousselot, said there was "an option to make the move permanent for €4m [£3.5m] at the end of the season if QPR remain in the Premier League".