Three years ago, Declan Rice committed an action at the end of a match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, in front of referee Michael Oliver, without receiving a booking. Fast forward to the present, Rice, now wearing an Arsenal jersey, performed the same action and was sent off. This inconsistency in refereeing decisions has left many puzzled, as highlighted by a viral video shared by Greek journalist Dimitris Manakos through England365.
Recently, Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton at the Emirates Stadium during Matchday 3 of the Premier League. The match was marked by controversy surrounding referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision to send off Declan Rice for allegedly delaying the game by pushing the ball away during a quick restart attempt by Brighton’s Veltman in the 49th minute. This decision left Arsenal with ten players and sparked frustration among the team and fans, who criticized the inconsistency in refereeing decisions. Mikel Arteta and Bukayo Saka expressed their disappointment, noting the tendency of English referees to make inconsistent calls from one match to another.
‼️ When Declan Rice did the SAME thing with another shirt. Just inconsistency!
He never got a yellow then, in an Arsenal vs West Ham game, back in the Emirates! 👀🤔#premierleague #Rice #Cavanagh #Arsenal #AFC #WestHamUnited #Redcard pic.twitter.com/xxtxQ9THDt
— Dimitris Manakos (@dimitrismanakos) September 1, 2024
The controversy intensified when a video surfaced showing Rice committing a similar act against Arsenal three years ago, where Granit Xhaka attempted a quick restart, and Rice, along with Paquet, kicked the ball away without any punishment from referee Michael Oliver. This inconsistency in handling similar situations has been a point of contention for Arsenal, highlighting the perceived lack of uniformity in refereeing decisions.
Dimitris Manakos from England365.gr
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Can’t we please drop this now? It doesn’t matter a jot whether Rice wasn’t booked for doing the same thing 10 times previously. It won’t make any difference to the one time he did do it against Brighton, no matter how unjustified the subsequent red card was.
There are now new, more pressing, issues for Arsenal – like the Sp*rs and City games. Coping with the likes of Mr Haaland should be the primary concern, not endless retrospective analysis of the Rice red card. What’s done is done.
Saliba says he’ll take care of the matter again, he,he.
But was there a sit down meeting with reffs and clubs that summer where all were told officials would be harsh on the topic ?
Stuff like this happens. The best we can do is to kill games early which we are suffering from doing this.
Merino out, Rice suspended, Odegaard unclear
Team against Sp*rs
Raya
White-Saliba-Gabriel-Timber
Partey
Odegaard(Nwaneri)-Havertz
Saka-Trossard-Sterling
COYG!