This season‘s loudest furore over a referees decision in the Premier League, has been the sending off of Arsenal’s Declan Rice. But was referee Chris Kavanagh wrong to make this decision?
Let’s look at the facts as far as the Laws of the Game is concerned. Rice had already received one yellow card for an earlier reckless tackle on Brighton’s Joel Veltman, A yellow card is a warning against further cautionable offences. Another one and it turns red.
Mention was made that no action was taken against Brighton’s Joao Pedro kicking the ball away earlier in the game. I am a supporter of more yellow cards for clear attempts to waste time, I don’t think however that the two situations are comparable as Pedro’s kick was when the ball had just crossed the touch line. There could be an argument that his kick was trying to keep the ball in play, but a little too late.
Much has been made of the short distance of Rice’s kick and indeed it was merely a ‘flick’ with his boot, so any delay in the game would be minimum. This I think is where the mistake is being made, the offence was not only delaying the restart of play.
Veltman obviously wanted to get play into action quickly, particularly with Rice out of position, by kicking the ball to his teammates in the opposite half of the field the pitch.
Rice’s flick of the ball prevented that happening and therefore denying any quick attack and the possible chance of a goal by Brighton players in the Arsenal half. This appears in the Laws of the Game as ‘Unsporting Behaviour’.
The Laws of the Game are shown to be in favour of taking quick free kicks, which would have been Veltman’s intention. Under the clause ‘Delaying the restart of play to show a card’, the Laws show that this is a legitimate tactic.
Some decriers have said that Veltman should have been sent off for clattering into Rice with his attempt to kick the ball. But the contact occurred because of Rice’s movement of the ball. It often happens when two opposing players go to kick the same ball, the leg of the one who kicks the ball follows on to hit the other player, what else could they do? When Rice moved the ball away, his legs received the follow on of Veltman’s intention to kick it up field.
I rest my case.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
