What a farce that is turning into. Firstly would say that I know Refs are human and sometimes human error occurs and that isn't my point on this subject. From the start this turns out to be slapstick comedy. Arsenal player makes a fine save and turns the ball around his post. Problem is he isn't dressed like a keeper and isn't supposed to use his hands. Referee spots the infringement and produces his red card unfortunately waving it at the wrong person. TV cameras of course pick it up and Ref looks rather silly. Now if that was all there was to it then it wouldn't be so bad but there is more. The panel of football wise persons takes over to "review" the situation. It was the wrong man who got the Red so they kick that decision into touch. Great so far. Now comes the bit I really truely don't get. The panel decide that the infringement by O-C did not merit a red card. Are these people for real? A deliberate handball to prevent a goal is an automatic Red. Hundreds of players have been sent off previously for the offence and it is written in the rules for Refs that a Red is a must in those circumstances. However these football people who adjudicate on matters football haven't heard of the rule they have made previously. Next Saturday there will be players lining up to make saves all over the Country because the FA have said it isn't a red card so it's obviously ok to do it. You really couldn't make it up.
Apparently they have said the ball would not have gone in so it was not a red card for stopping a goal scoring opportunity.. bull ****... Wonder would would happen if that same scenario is again tomorrow at the "El Classico" at home park!!... it would stand as a RED.. Now there is another bunch who get the brown envelopes??
​To quote the BBC: Rules drawn up by world governing body Fifa state a player should only be shown a red card for handball if "the unacceptable and unfair intervention prevented a goal being scored". The rules make no mention of a player's intent when handling the ball. The shot wasn't going in, so a goal wasn't going to be scored so it's not a red card. No brown envelopes required in this case either.
So if you do what was done in normal play time then it is likely the Ref will do what this one did and produce a red but if you get a panel in an office and the ball was a centimetre outside the post you will get nothing. Question, would the panel have recinded the red if he had got the right player? You know and I know the answer is no.
Normally I suppose the ref's decision is final so if he misses the fact that the ball's going wide and red cards somebody, that's that. In this case though they used the video to decide what I suppose was Gibb's appeal and having found him innocent, have to move on to decide what to do to Oxlade-Chamberlain. They can hardly say "well, yes, we've seen the video and it was going wide but we're going to repeat the ref's mistake anyway". That would be nonsense. Justice has been done in an unusual case I think.
Bit more passion and a bit less reason notdistant......not everything is done with a sedative taken first. You still know as well as I do that there is no way the panel would recind the decision. Adding that it isn't "that's that" when a Ref does something because there is always the appeal option. Had O-C appealed if the ref got it right the panel would have thrown out the appeal video evidence or not.
