Monday, 24th March, 2014
Premier League referee Andre Marriner is set to learn whether he will be demoted for sending off the wrong Arsenal player during Saturday's match against Chelsea.
Trailing 2-0 in the 14th minute, the referee brandished a straight red card to left-back Kieran Gibbs for handling the ball inside the box. The Gunners finally went on to lose the match 6-0.
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However, replays clearly suggested that the offender was team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and not Gibbs.
Even the 20-year-old seemed to plead with the referee, telling him that he was the culprit, but the original decision stood.
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"Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors", the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said through a statement.
"While this was a difficult decision, Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player."
Marriner has already apologised to the club for the error.
"He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue."
Reactions have been pouring in from various quarters, with the UEFA spokesperson Pedro Pinto stressing the need for additional goalline officials as is employed by the governing body.
"With an additional assistant referee on the end line, referee would not have got that sending off wrong. Technology is not the answer – more eyeballs are the answer", he claimed through a statement at Twitter.
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