Red Card in Arsenal/Partizan Match

Back on December 8, 2010, there was a match between Arsenal FC and FK Partizan, a Group H match in the Champions League. Eric Wynalda and two others were the commentators on the match that I watched on FSN. The results were Arsenal 3 and Partizan 1. There was one yellow card and one red card in the match. It is the red card that I want to discuss.

Around the 86th minute of the match on a breakaway by Partizan, the Partizan attacker was rapidly approaching Arsenal’s penalty area while being challenged closely by an Arsenal defender running in the same direction as the attacker. Just outside the penalty area with no defenders around but the goalkeeper whose was at the front of his goal area, the Arsenal defender, Bacary Sagna, reached in and across the Partizan attacker in an attempt to play the ball. He tripped the attacker instead. The referee sent off Sagna without hesitation.

One of the commentators, I didn’t get his name but he was blond and had a strong British accent, disagreed with the red card saying it was a bit harsh. This commentator did not agree that the tackle was a sendoff offense. Well Mr. British accent commentator, you might not be an American commentator, but you can make yourself look foolish just the same by making uneducated comments as you did during this match.

The call was exactly right. I recognized it immediately when I saw it. I knew what the referee was going to do and I was pleased to see that he was close behind and made the right call. (I think the referee was from Italy. I saw him again on a Serie A match between Juventus and Lazio. His name is something like Tiliavento.)

Mr. British accent commentator should review the FIFA LOTG and avoid such miseducation of the millions of listeners as he did during this foul and send-off. He is a paid professional. I expect him to know what he’s talking about.

From the FIFA Interpretations of the LOTG and Guidelines for Referees:
Referees should consider the following circumstances when deciding whether to send off a player for denying a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity:
• the distance between the offence and the goal
• the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
• the direction of the play
• the location and number of defenders
• the offence which denies an opponent an obvious goalscoring opportunity may be an offence that incurs a direct free kick or an indirect free kick

From the USSF Advice to Referees:
In order for a player or substitute to be sent off for denying an "obvious goalscoring opportunity by an offense punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick" (number 5 under the seven send-off offenses), four elements must be present:
• Number of Defenders—not more than one defender between the foul and the goal, not counting the defender who committed the foul
• Distance to goal—the closer the foul is to the goal, the more likely it is an obvious goalscoring opportunity
• Distance to ball—the attacker must have been close enough to the ball at the time of the foul to continue playing the ball
• Direction of play—the attacker must have been moving toward the goal at the time the foul was committed

The foul in the Arsenal/Partizan match meets the above criteria. The attacker was just outside the penalty area running directly toward the goal with no one between him and the goal but the goalkeeper. The closest defender was slightly behind/beside him. The attacker was only a second away from taking a shot when he was tripped. His goal scoring opportunity was taking away. This kind of defending is completely unacceptable and the punishment defined by FIFA reflects the seriousness of the offense, a send-off.