VAR audio from Declan Rice red card incident reveals referee ‘didn’t like’ decision

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Referee Chris Kavanagh admitted he did not like the decision to send off Declan Rice for a second yellow card in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brighton but was left with “no choice” after the England international delayed the restart of the game by kicking the ball away.

Rice was sent off for the first time in his career as Arsenal dropped points at home, with manager Mikel Arteta saying he was “amazed, amazed” at the decision. Rice nudged the ball away from Joel Veltman as he prepared to take a free kick.

The audio from the VAR discussion has now been released, in which referee Kavanagh tells Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard that Rice put him “in an awful position” by kicking the ball away while already on a yellow card.

“I had no choice, he knocks the ball away. You did kick the ball, you did,” Kavanagh is heard telling Rice on the latest episode of the Premier League’s Mic’d Up. “He’s knocked the ball away. You need to go Dec, you need to go.

“I don’t like it, I don’t like it. But he’s knocked the ball, he’s kicked the ball. Dec, you need to go I’m afraid.”

Kavanagh’s decision was backed at the time by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and the Key Match Incidents panel, and subsequently by the PGMOL’s chief operation officer Howard Webb.

Appearing on Mic’d Up, Webb explained: “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."

Following the 1-1 draw, Arteta was angered that Kavanagh had been inconsistent by not showing a yellow card to Brighton player Joao Pedro after he had kicked the ball away during the first half, and Webb accepted that Pedro should have been booked.

"It sits in the same kind of book around delaying the restart. Of course, he should have been cautioned here," Webb said. “The officials on the field gave him too much benefit of doubt.”