Ref retained despite Arsenal red-card blunder

LONDON (Reuters) - Referee Andre Marriner will remain a part of next weekend's Premier League games despite his high-profile gaffe in sending off the wrong Arsenal player at Chelsea on Saturday.

Ref retained despite Arsenal red-card blunder

(Reuters)





Marriner will take charge of Southampton against Newcastle United on Saturday, the Premier League said.

The referee caused uproar when he awarded a penalty against Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's handball and then sent off Kieran Gibbs by mistake despite the real culprit owning up at the time.

Arsenal went on to lose 6-0 at Stamford Bridge but Marriner's blunder was the talk of the afternoon, with the referee later expressing his 'disappointment' to Arsenal.

Former World Cup referee Clive Thomas told BBC radio the referee had made a "disgusting, shocking decision" and suggested Marriner should be stood down for the rest of the Premier League season.

The visitors had been trailing 2-0 to early goals from Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schuerrle when Marriner awarded the 15th-minute penalty after Oxlade-Chamberlain handled a shot from Eden Hazard on the goalline.

TV replays showed Oxlade-Chamberlain clearly mouthing "it was me" during the aftermath but the referee, who took a long time before awarding the penalty, stuck to his original decision.

The controversy compounded a miserable afternoon for Arsene Wenger in his 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal.

"Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors," the Professional Game Match Officials had said in a statement on Saturday.

"Whilst this was a difficult decision Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player. He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Justin Palmer)


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Ref retained despite Arsenal red-card blunder | SBS News