WHAT THE DEC?
Refs’ chief Howard Webb reveals Declan Rice red card was correct – but Arsenal wronged by different incorrect decision
The Rice incident was among five decisions that were reviewed
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DECLAN RICE was rightly sent off for kicking the ball away against Brighton - according to refs’ chief Howard Webb.
Speaking on this season’s first edition of decision review show “Match Officials Mic’d Up”, Webb said referee Chris Kavanagh had “no choice” other than to dismiss the England star.
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Rice was handed a second yellow by Kavanagh for nudging the ball away as Brighton’s Joel Veltman was taking a free-kick.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was outraged by the call - which cost him Rice’s services in the north London derby win at Spurs.
But the audio of the conversations between Kavanagh and VAR Andy Madley shows the referee felt he had to give Rice the second yellow - even though he was unhappy at doing so.
Kavanagh said “Declan Rice has kicked the ball away. I don’t like it, I don’t like it. But he’s knocked the ball. He’s kicked the ball.”
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His VAR, Andy Madley, confirms that decision, telling Kavanagh: “It’s all checked and cleared. It’s exactly as seen.”
And Webb agreed: “As you hear from Chris Kavanagh, he's clearly seen Declan Rice commit a foul, then kick the ball away for an opponent that was in the process of taking a free-kick.
“We've messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way.
"Once he's seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don't think he's got any choice."
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Webb, though, did say Kavanagh was WRONG not to issue Brighton’s Joao Pedro with a yellow card for a similar incident in the first half of the game.
He said: “It's a different type of scenario. But it sits in the same kind of book around delaying the restart. Of course, he should have been cautioned here.
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“The officials on the field gave him too much benefit of doubt, feeling that the actions weren't really impactful because they felt that the Arsenal players were not ready to take that throw-in.
“That should have been the yellow card. And we've certainly messaged that back to the officials."
The Rice incident was among five decisions from the first three weeks of the campaign that were reviewed by Webb.
Webb said: "In this situation, the ball strikes Ouattara's shoulder, upper-arm area. It's hard to be totally conclusive as to exactly where and I don't think that's conclusive enough to intervene.
“It goes back to 'referee's call'. It's an important concept. And for those factual matters you need evidence. It's very clear that the on-field call is wrong, I don't think we have it here.
But Webb confirmed that VAR was right to overturn a penalty initially awarded for a “foul” by Lewis Dunk on Dominic Calvert-Lewin in Brighton’s opening day win at Everton.
He also agreed that Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic did not deserve to concede a handball penalty in the first weekend win at Chelsea and that Wout Faes’ goal for Leicester at Fulham, originally ruled out for offside against Jamie Vardy, was correctly awarded.
Changes to the Premier League for 2024/25
NOTHING stays the same forever.
And that includes the Premier League, which is making a number of tweaks this season.
Team news will now be released 75 MINUTES before kick-off, 15 minutes earlier than had been the case before.
Things could get crowded on the touchline, with the number of substitutes permitted to warm-up boosted from three players per team to FIVE.
There's also a change to how added time is calculated when a team scores a goal, an update to the 'multiball' system and the introduction of semi-automated offsides - but not straight away.
Go here to read about all the changes to the Premier League for 2024/25.
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