Joel Veltman has been accused of influencing the referee’s decision to send off Declan Rice during the match between Arsenal and Brighton over the weekend.
The Arsenal midfielder, who was already on a yellow card, attempted to prevent Veltman from restarting play quickly, which led to his dismissal.
As a result, Rice will miss Arsenal’s match against Tottenham after the international break. However, some believe that Rice might have stayed on the pitch if Veltman had not exaggerated the situation.
Veltman’s actions have drawn criticism from many quarters, but his wife has spoken out against the backlash, arguing that such criticism could endanger players’ families.
She expressed concern that fans might target the families of players because some analysts are attributing Rice’s sending off to Veltman’s actions.
Naomi Veltman said, as quoted by Sussex Express:
“Analysts on TV should be held accountable for the narratives they bring out. It is not only untrue, it also puts players and their families in dangerous situations.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
If Veltman had not made the most of the situation, the referee may not have handed a yellow card to Rice. However, the most important thing is that the midfielder should have been more careful since he was already on a booking.
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
I wonder if she ever met Diego Costa’s wife.
I think Casemiro’s wife launched a strong defence at the weekend too. And it’s a bit like Ramsdale’s dad getting busy in the media last season Did it help matters?
Nobody wants to have the fear of personal threats or attacks aimed at them but I think Naomi Veltman should have left the subject alone. There are other ways of dealing with negative press. Her reaction caused an article on JA and no doubt elsewhere on social media. I’d have kept schtum if I were in her shoes
Bit of a Streisand effect? I suppose it depends how real the threat is wrt if it’s useful to speak out. I don’t know but would imagine the real danger to veltman and his family is actually very low and it would have been better to have this conversation in private with the relevant individuals – I’m sure Brighton could have facilitated that.
How Veltrem wasn’t the one punished I’ll never know He throws the ball at Rice instead of just taking it quickly that’s if there was even a pass on and then he kicks Rice WTF
Veltman kicked the stationary ball into Rice (not threw) from where the foul was awarded so it was in play when Rice within his rights nudged it over the sideline. Did he mean to kick it? That’s like trying to say “I didn’t mean to foul someone” as a defence. Red card to Veltman who kicked Rice viciously.
I don’t think rice believed the freekick had been taken, but it could have been a viable defence if he had said that to the ref. I’m not comfortable with the thinking that veltman was being sneaky and rice was totally innocent – too many assumptions. It could have been the other way around (which was my reading at the time tbh), or both could have been innocent or sneaky in their motives.
I agree Davi. I read it originally, that both knew what they were doing – with Veltman trying to provoke Rice, Rice nudging the ball away, then when Veltman gave him a slight kick, Rice went down like he’d received a two-legged flying tackle in an attempt to get the crowd wound up and get Veltman sent off.
👍
The ball wasn’t in play, as it was a rolling ball and not taken from the correct position.
Can we move on from this now please?
This is not difficult to understand there is an agenda against Arsenal by certain referees certain pundits and certain factions of the media we can argue for or against this but the facts over the last few years don’t lie, look at the amount of red and yellow cards we receive compared to the other teams in the Premier League how about the game against Newcastle last year i can go on and on there is rules for Arsenal and then there is another set of rules for the rest of the Premier League
Last season Arsenal were 19th for yellow cards and equal 12th for reds.
In ’21/’22, ’20/’21, and ’19/20 Arsenal was alone in 2nd, 2nd, and 1st, respectively, for reds.
You very carefully omitted season 22/23, when Arsenal finished 20th for reds with none, and 18th for yellows with only two teams with less.
3rd for yellows
You very carefully only provided ’23/’24 yellows and reds. That’s the point here, you or I can cherry pick facts all day long.
I know🤣. I deliberately chose last season as a direct contrast, something which Mike had obviously overlooked, although I could have included the season before which wasn’t so bad, nothing like he was suggesting.
I don’t agree with the conscious agenda idea but when he mentioned the last few years I felt his feelings weren’t coming out of thin air as I had seen numbers within the last few years that were very heavily skewed against Arsenal so I went back into the last 5 seasons to see for myself. 🤡
There’s been a big improvement the last couple of seasons (mostly).
The other problem with the stats is how many cards were deserved Vs underserved, and how does that relate to other teams, and how many cards were we fortunate to avoid? Those are the important questions, to answer questions of bias, and it’s very difficult to compute.
I don’t think we’ve been a dirty team for some time, but one could say our players have been prone to frustration or lack of discipline at times in the past, which could lead to build up of cards. Again, was that more so than most other teams? I really don’t know.
Having seasons where we had relatively few red and yellow cards can be used to counter claims of bias, though – I can’t see how that’s not legitimate
Granit used to skew the numbers, lol. You’re right Davi, numbers very seldom tell the whole story.
As supporters, we remember times we felt hard done by, but forget when we were lucky. If it had been the Brighton player who got sent off for two yellows, would we still be speaking about it? Would we be upset for them? You know the answer. Let’s move on … btw I think the Brighton player’s partner has a good point, The press and fan sites have been relentless about this when Declan admitted he kicked the ball. The ref had no option. What difference would it have made to the result if the Brighton lad had been booked for booting the ball away – none!
You say Let’s move on but then start reciting your viewpoint on the matter. Which is it?
Both.
..and if you take the trouble to read my comment it addresses Arsenal’s red & yellow card totals only, but you’ll notice I completely ignored the clown who mentioned Diego Costa’s wife.
Good for you. Now read my cherry picked facts above to add to yours. No valid points in either but I didn’t dismiss Mike’s comment with them either. So serious.
But if there was an agenda we wouldn’t get big decisions ever go our way ?
The Brighton player appears to have engineered the incident: his actions appear to be deliberate and the result, it appears, is to misdirect the referee.
Gamesmanship NOT sportsmanship.
The ball is rolled by hand into the heel of Rice who is facing and walking directly away (some 3/4 meters) from the Brighton man.
Rice, it appears, feels the moving ball touch him from behind and reacts with a flick of his boot which steers the ball off pitch: an automatic reaction: hardly a deliberate clearance to disadvantage the opposition or delay a game that seemed more and more to be within the grasp of the Home!
The Brighton player, appears, very swiftly, to follow the moving ball he has deliberately rolled up behind Rice; then delivering a full on sweeping kick to the the back of the Arsenal man’s legs: this immediate fells Rice to the pitch! All this happens to Rice unseen by him from behind his back as he walks away from the action.
An act of violence? It seems so: most would probably give a guilty verdict. If such occurs outside the football ground it might result in police action on ABH grounds.
Underhand, and with a cowardly accent, by the Brighton man? Certainly could be viewed that way?
The referee seems to think NO, just acceptable fair play by Brighton; in his official view. What next? Quick response needed; simply get the yellow card out; no need for deliberation; dismiss Rice for allowing himself to deflect a moving ball, unseen by him and aimed deliberately from the rear at his departing legs! Maybe he threw himself to the ground deliberately! Didn’t really notice the Brighton player kick him from behind? Doesn’t matter now just get Rice off the pitch: get on with the game: don’t really have to explain myself.
It’s only a game; not that important.