Declan Rice received a second yellow card during Arsenal’s match against Brighton for ‘delaying a restart,’ leaving the England midfielder suspended for the upcoming North London derby against Tottenham on September 15.
The Premier League confirmed Rice’s dismissal was due to ‘delaying the restart,’ despite the fact that Rice had been kicked by Brighton’s Joel Veltman. The incident occurred after Rice nudged the ball away slightly as Veltman prepared to take a free-kick. Rice, clearly angered by the situation, believed Veltman had lashed out after the two got tangled up and fell to the ground. To Rice’s surprise, referee Chris Kavanagh issued him a yellow card, interpreting Veltman’s actions as an attempt to take the free-kick quickly.
According to FA rules, delaying a restart or kicking the ball away is an automatic yellow card offense. Despite heated protests from Rice and his teammates, VAR upheld the referee’s decision, leading to Rice’s first career red card.
The Premier League Match Centre, a new initiative this season to provide live refereeing and VAR explanations on social media, confirmed that Rice’s second yellow card was indeed for ‘delaying the restart.’
TNT Sports commentators Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist expressed confusion over the red card, with McCoist stating, “I don’t know what Declan Rice is meant to do. It looked like Veltman kicked out at him! I think Joel Veltman is lucky to stay on the pitch.”
They speculated that Veltman might have been trying to kick the ball upfield, and Rice’s slight touch caused the situation to escalate. Fans on social media were outraged by the decision, with well-known Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan calling it “the worst red card decision in football history” on X.
Arsenal quickly felt the impact of Rice’s sending-off as Joao Pedro equalized just nine minutes later, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
After the game, Peter Crouch offered his thoughts on the controversial incident, telling TNT Sports, “Veltman has played the referee,” and suggested that Rice was a victim of “housery” by the Dutch defender. The former Liverpool striker added, “I don’t think there’s anyone in football that thinks he’s genuinely trying to play a pass there. He’s tried to put the ball there, hoping Rice would kick it away, and then drew the referee’s attention, leading to the red card.”
