Referees’ chief Howard Webb has clarified Declan Rice’s red card against Brighton after reviewing the audio conversation between the referee and the VAR.
Rice was sent off for a second bookable offence when he appeared to block Brighton’s restart, leaving the midfielder devastated.
As a result, he missed the North London Derby against Tottenham, and his absence was felt in Arsenal’s eventual victory.
There has been significant debate surrounding the red card, with Arsenal fans expressing frustration over inconsistent decision-making in that match.
Webb has now reviewed the incident and others. During the conversation between referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR Andy Madley, Kavanagh appeared reluctant to issue a second yellow card to Rice but felt compelled to do so as he believed it was the correct decision. Webb concurred.
He said, as quoted by The Sun:
“We’ve messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way.
“Once he’s seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don’t think he’s got any choice.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
This explanation will not persuade Arsenal fans to think about the incident differently, and we should just move on from it.
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How many same incident, in the same week only one punishment. Too bad
I think we are playing in the CL tomorrow, lets all move on. He has served his ban, we won. Lets look forwards, not rake up the past. Are we that desperate for articles?
I listened to the VAR guys during the incident, and one of them told the ref he had no choice but to give a second yellow, which is supposed to be against the rules. Yellows are totally out of VAR jurisdiction. I think VAR should be re-refereeing games, but rules are rules and should be the same for everyone. I wonder who the guy who told the ref he had no choice was and why he didn’t bother in the earlier incident.
They had to have been reviewing a possible red card for the kick on rice. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been involved at all.
It is said if the head of the stream is dirty, down stream will get contaminated, it’s as simple as that