Arsenal confirmed yesterday that the English FA had rejected our appeal to overturn David Luiz’s red card.
The Brazilian was sent off for what was deemed as a foul to deny a clear goalscoring opportunity on Tuesday. Replays showed that that contact was minimal and completely accidental, but the FA were having none of it.
Surprisingly, they had a different view on another offence that occurred on the same day. Southampton’s Jan Bednarek was sent off for a similar foul against Manchester United, and the Saints, like us, felt hard done by.
They appealed to have his red card overturned and the FA gladly agreed.
That has sparked serious outrage among Arsenal supporters on social media. Even fans of other clubs are bemused by the FA’s decision to reject one appeal but accept another. That tells you all you need to know.
Everton attacker Yannick Bolasie also expressed his shock on Twitter yesterday. Even he couldn’t understand the difference between the two fouls and was shocked by how the FA treated both cases.
Arsenal Insider’s view
Arsenal fans are just as bemused as Bolasie is here. The FA claim that Bednarek was attempting to play the ball and Luiz wasn’t, but neither defender had any chance of getting anywhere near the ball.
Bednarek will be back for Southampton’s clash this weekend but Luiz will have to sit out. The Brazilian has every right to feel hard done by, but there is absolutely nothing we can do now to change things.
The FA need to have a serious look at some of their rules. The current law surrounding punishments for denying a goalscoring opportunity is absolutely absurd, and that should be changed ASAP.
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