Former referees' chief Keith Hackett has slammed the decision not to red card Brighton’s Joao Pedro for his challenge on Christian Walton during last night’s 2-0 defeat to the Seagulls and says believes the officials involved should be spoken to regarding the incident.
Pedro jumped into Walton at pace with the ball already well gone in the 53rd minute of last night’s match, his shoulder making solid contact with the the keeper’s face, leaving the former Albion man needing treatment and perhaps still feeling the effects when Kaoru Mitoma scored the opening goal six minutes later.
Referee Tony Harrington showed only a yellow card, a decision backed up by VAR official Michael Salisbury.
But Hackett, a former Premier League and FIFA official and one-time general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), says they got the decision wholly wrong.
"This is a nailed on red card for serious foul play,” he told Football Insider. "He knows exactly what he is doing. This is a challenge with excessive force that endangers the safety of the goalkeeper.
"Referees should not await the outcome to see if the goalkeeper is injured or not. Totally unacceptable and I would suggest that the referee and VAR require some operational advice.”
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Hackett outlined the law relating to serious foul play: "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.
"Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.”