Gary Lineker believes football has ‘lost its mind’ after Declan Rice’s red card for Arsenal against Brighton on Saturday.
The England international was already on a yellow when he nudged the ball away from Joel Veltman, who was preparing to take a quick free kick.
Veltman actually clattered Rice immediately after – but it was the Arsenal star who was then penalised.
The former West Ham star was given his marching orders by referee Chris Kavanagh, with Rice receiving his first red card of his career in the process.
Arsenal were enraged by the decision and went on to draw the match.
Joao Pedro levelled for Brighton after Kai Havertz had given the Gunners a first half lead.
And Lineker, speaking on Match of the Day, has now expressed a belief that football has ‘lost its mind’.
The former England, Tottenham and Barcelona star said: “I think this is another classic example where football has lost its mind, for people getting a red card for flicking a ball about 12 inches – second yellow, which still means he goes off.”
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Danny Murphy, however, feels Kavanagh had no choice but to send Rice off.
“Initially I thought that he’s just lashed out [Veltman] and kicked Declan Rice, and when you see it, he’s making out that he’s kicked him because he’s trying to clear the ball – I don’t quite believe that,” he said.
“The letter of the law it’s a second booking, he’s kicked it out of play, he’s given the referee no choice and the referee makes the decision.”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta blasted Kavanagh and said he was ‘amazed’ by the call.
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“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” said Arteta in his post-match press conference.
“In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens.
“Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan (on the back of his leg), he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.
“By law, he [the referee] can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10 vs 10.
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“This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.”
Rice, however, has fronted up and accepted he deserved to be sent off – though did admit he was stunned at being given a second yellow card.
“I was shocked. I think you could see in my face I was shocked,” he said.
“I’ve not sprinted back in front of him (Veltman) and smashed the ball away. I’ve touched the ball with the outside of my foot.
“Look, this is the law of the game. If you touch the ball away, even a little bit, obviously it’s a red card after my challenge in the first half, which I fully accept was a 50-50 that I didn’t win.
“But the second half one, especially with it being in the corner flag, they (Brighton) can’t really progress anywhere from there.”
He added: “It was tough, it was harsh, but it’s one of those things. I have to move on from it.
“I will be better for it and I can only praise the players for digging deep for me and the manager (Arteta) for pushing everyone, and the fans as well, who were unbelievable again this afternoon. That’s how I see it.”
