During Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Brighton & Hove Albion in August, referee Chris Kavanagh issued a red card to Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice after a contentious incident involving Brighton’s Joel Veltman. Rice, already on a booking, was penalized for kicking the ball away from Veltman’s path, an action that led Kavanagh to give him a second yellow card and subsequently send him off.
Kavanagh later explained his decision, admitting he didn’t “like the rules” but felt Rice had left him with “no choice” under the current guidelines. Despite the controversy, the referee stood by his decision, telling Rice and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard that Rice’s actions put him in an “awful position.” The decision was backed by VAR, which confirmed that the incident was seen correctly.
Rice’s red card, the first of his senior career, proved costly for Arsenal. Brighton capitalized on their numerical advantage, with Joao Pedro scoring an equalizer to secure a draw. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta expressed his amazement at the decision, while pundit Peter Crouch criticized the inconsistency of officiating.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb later defended the decision, reiterating the Premier League’s strict stance on players attempting to delay restarts, emphasizing that referees have been instructed to enforce yellow cards for such offenses to maintain game flow.
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