Declan Rice was sent off in extraordinary circumstances in the second half of Arsenal’s match against Brighton on Saturday.
The defender, who had been shown a yellow card for a late tackle in the first half, received a second yellow at the start of the second half for seemingly nudging the ball away from Brighton’s Joel Veltman after play had been stopped.
The situation became more bizarre after Veltman’s responded to Rice’s touch of the ball by following through and clattering Rice.
As Rice went down to ground, holding his leg, the home supporters called for Veltman to be sent off and it was huge shock when the referee, Chris Kavanagh, produced a red card for Rice.
Arsenal were leading 1-0 at the time and Brighton scored an equaliser through Joao Pedro nine minutes later.
The Premier League has said the second yellow was for delaying the restart.
#ARSBHA – 48′
The referee issued a second yellow card to Declan Rice for delaying the restart.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) August 31, 2024
Sending off Rice was nonsense
The decision to send off Declan Rice was absolute nonsense.
All Rice did was tap the ball, and it barely went a yard! His insignificant actions had no material impact on the match and hardly slowed the game down, which was the explanation offered by the Premier League for the second yellow to be shown.
In the madness of the incident unfolding, I also do not understand how Brighton’s Joel Veltman escaped a card after hoofing the ball, and Rice, after the Arsenal played had tapped it.
Veltman’s actions could have easily earned him a red card, and was a far more egregious act than that of Rice. A yellow should have been given to him at a minimum. The video assistant referee would have been well within their rights to intervene.
Common sense going out of refereeing
The farce at the Emirates is another prime example of common sense going out of refereeing. Chris Kavanagh was clearly focusing on the letter of the law, rather than using a feel for the game.
I get the feeling that the current crop of referees are too afraid to do anything that is not exactly by the book. We are losing that grey area of wiggle room that the top officials understand how to use to manage a game.
When I was refereeing, I always believed that if you were handing out a second yellow card, it needed to be at the level of an “orange” card. By that I mean, closer to a red than a yellow given the implications it can have on the match.
Sympathy and common sense should be part of refereeing. I fear they are both lacking.
After all, football remains a form of entertainment and that is being lost at the moment. Rice being sent off is a bad look for the Premier League and the sport.