Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has backed Arsenal’s appeal over Max Dowman’s red card, suggesting he believes the youngster should have been booked.
Arsenal’s Max Dowman received a red card in Tuesday’s League Cup match against Fleetwood Town, but the Gunners are currently appealing the decision.
Dowman was on the end of a heavy challenge, and he reacted with a swing of his leg. The referee believed he’d seen a kick, and he sent the midfielder off.
But subsequent replays have shown that Dowman was trying to throw off the opponent’s leg, not to kick it. Though he did so in an aggressive manner, former referee Mark Halsey believes it didn’t meet the threshold for violent conduct.
“A lot of people are making a comparison [with] the Cole Palmer challenge against Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening,” Halsey began. “I said at the time that I thought that Cole Palmer was a yellow card.
“I’ve come to the same decision with Max Dowman, with his retaliation. It’s petulance, it’s not violent, it’s not violent conduct. He’s adopted an aggressive attitude towards an opponent, and you can understand why.
“Obviously, difficult for referee Michael Salisbury in real time…[but] you could argue that perhaps Cole Palmer’s was a little bit more aggressive than Max Dowman’s.
“I thought it was unfortunate [on Tuesday night] to receive a red card for violent conduct. For me, it wasn’t an act of violent conduct.”
The ex-ref’s verdict will be music to Arsenal’s ears, as they have until 13:00 GMT on Thursday to supply the relevant documents for their appeal. They then expect to learn the outcome before Sunday’s match against Liverpool.
As it stands, Dowman is set to be suspended for Sunday, as well as the subsequent Premier League fixtures against Hull City and Newcastle United. He will be available for the Champions League match against Slavia Praha in between.
But if the appeal board agree with Halsey’s assessment of the situation, they’d surely have no choice but to overturn the red card and make Dowman available again.
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