Former referee Mark Halsey has voiced strong criticism of the decision to send off Declan Rice during Arsenal’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion, accusing Premier League referee Chris Kavanagh of looking for trouble.
In the match on Saturday, Kavanagh issued a red card to Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice for allegedly delaying a restart by nudging the ball away from an opponent.
However, Halsey, an experienced former referee, argued that the application of the rule was flawed in this situation.
Halsey elaborated on his stance in a statement to The S*n, emphasizing that the rule regarding delaying a restart did not apply in this scenario.
“The ball was rolling when Brighton’s Joel Veltman took the free-kick, so the restart would not have taken place as it would have been wrong in Law,” Halsey explained. “Therefore, the delaying a restart does not apply.”
Halsey was particularly critical of Kavanagh’s approach, suggesting that the referee was overly eager to penalize Rice.
“Kavanagh went looking for trouble and he found it. A referee of his calibre at this level should not be sending players off for this,” he stated.
Halsey further asserted that Kavanagh could have handled the situation more effectively by communicating with both players rather than immediately resorting to a red card.
“Rice should have received a final warning for flicking the ball away, and Veltman was also lucky to escape punishment for kicking the England star,” he stated.
The incident did not go unnoticed by Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta, who highlighted the inconsistency in Kavanagh’s officiating during his post-match press conference.
Arteta pointed out a similar incident involving Brighton’s Joao Pedro in the first half, where Pedro deliberately booted the ball back onto the pitch to delay an Arsenal throw-in, yet faced no consequences.
“In the first half, there were two incidents and nothing happened,” Arteta remarked. “By law, he can make that call, but by law then he needs to make the next call which is a red card. By law, you want to do it but you didn’t do it in the first half.”
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka also echoed the frustrations regarding the lack of consistency in the officiating.
He commented, “We just want some consistency. Joao Pedro booted the ball halfway across the pitch in the first half and got nothing for it. Dec got the slightest touch and was sent off.”
This incident has sparked a debate about the consistency of refereeing decisions in the Premier League, with many calling for clearer and more uniform application of the rules.
