Howard Webb, head of the professional game Match Officers Limited (PGMOL), admitted that referee Michael Oliver was wrongly sent Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 1-0 victory of Arsenal against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but insisted that the first call was not It was almost as bad as many claimed.
Lewis-Skelly was released late in the first half after his attempt to stop a counterattack was considered dangerously high. The Arsenal squad was apoplectically with anger -their protests brought them enormous fine -while fans and experts beat the decision.
The red card was finally lifted after Arsenal’s appointment, and while Webb confirmed that the sending was wrong, he defended Oliver’s original judgment.
“From the beginning we would prefer a yellow card in this situation,” said Webb Match officer MIC’D Up.
“Obviously, the referee felt the actions of Myles Lewis -Skelly … He saw how the player received an opponent without skills or intention to play the ball – with the intention of stopping the opponent. And the referee sees one Increased foot make a lot of contact and the opponent went down.
“The referee was for a serious foul, the Var checked the footage to see whether the call was clear and obviously wrong, and he had the feeling that the contact on the leg was pretty high. But we know that for Serious foul, we need excessive strength or brutality, and what we see here is this high contact [just] Look and get out of the leg pretty quickly.
“For this reason, everyone in the game has drawn the same conclusion that this decreases the serious foul – because the stairs come down on the foot.”
Referee: “I will go red card, buddy. Red card on the ankle. Red card, serious foul.”
VAR: “Only check the red card for serious foul.
Assistant var: “I think he first catches him at the side of the ankle. It looks on the foot on the side of the ankle. The first influence is more than the Achilles area.”
VAR: “So the first influence is on the Achilles on the shin.”
Assistant var: “Without a chance to play the ball.”
VAR: “So, it’s high above the ankle, then it comes down again. Ok, please get the number, please.”
Assistant var: “It’s number 49, Lewis-Skelly.”
VAR: “Michael, who confirms the decision of the red card on the field for serious foul for Myles Lewis-Skelly. Away, 49. Check it.”
“There are some considerations that could support a red card, but there are a number of others who say that it is not quite there. We would rather be a yellow card into the balance,” continued Webb.
“The VAR did not want to encourage the situation again, they paid attention to the reputation of the referee unless the map on the field.
“I heard that as a really terrible official decision. It is not! I understand why the referee saw this as a serious foul play campaign during the day.
“We have to be careful when we slow down things and freeze things. [studs] And comes off pretty quickly.
“But it is an understandable decision in the field. Yes, we believe that the VAR should have been involved, but at the same time I can understand why this didn’t happen at the moment.
“We listen to the game, we feed the official back to ensure that we meet the expectations of the game and the assessment of these things.”