"I had no choice" - Conversation between referee and VAR following Arsenal star Declan Rice's sending-off comes to light
The conversation between referee Chris Kavanagh, who oversaw Arsenal's Premier League game against Brighton and Hove Albion, and the VAR officials that led to Declan Rice getting sent off has now come to light. The Gunners notably dropped points when they faced Brighton on August 31, with the game eventually ending 1-1.
The Gunners had been in the lead, having scored through Kai Havertz in the first half, before an early second-half red card for Declan Rice turned the game around. With only 10 men, Arsenal were forced to defend their lead, and Brighton eventually equalized through Joao Pedro.
Rice, who had picked up a yellow card in the first half, was shown a second yellow for kicking the ball away when Brighton's Joel Veltman was about to restart play. The Dutch defender had been fouled, and looked to quickly resume the game, pushing the ball towards Rice, before running up to kick it. However, Rice flicked the ball away, and Veltman ended up kicking Rice.
The England midfielder was shown a second yellow card for flicking the ball away, which has since caused a lot of controversy. Now, the audio between the referees and VAR has been released. The conversation took place between the following people:
- Referee (REF): Chris Kavanagh.
- Assistant Referee 1 (AR1): Lee Betts.
- Assistant Referee 2 (AR2): Richard West.
- Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Andrew Madley.
- Additional Video Assistant Referee (AVAR): Steven Meredith.
The conversation went (via Mirror):
VAR: "Ball clearly in. Possible defensive foul, given. I think he's gone to play the ball. He's gone to play the ball for me."
AR2: "You've got Gabriel running in, you've got Partey running over. Leave him."
AR1: "Remember it's Rice. He's already on one. He's just knocked it away, he's on a second."
AVAR: "There's no discipline on-field as of yet."
REF: "Declan Rice has kicked the ball away. Going to have no choice mate."
AR1: "It's a second yellow mate."
REF: "I know, I've got no choice."
AR1: "It's delaying the restart."
REF: "I know it is. And I'm going to have to deal with it aren't I? I know. Second yellow for me. I had no choice, he knocks the ball away. As he's about to kick it, he knocks the ball away."
AR1: "Look after yourself."
VAR: "Just looking at. Just watching this, just show me this again. If you watch Veltman, he's looking away. He's not even looking at.... he's looking to play the ball there. So, for me, that's not a kick, are you happy with that?"
AVAR: "Agreed, agreed."
VAR: "He's looking to play the ball. That's Declan Rice's issue to be honest."
AVAR: "It's not an act of violent conduct for me."
VAR: "I'm happy with that."
REF: "I had no choice. Listen, he's put me in an awful position. He's knocked the ball away. Dec, you need to go. You need to go. I don't like it, but he's knocked the ball away, he's kicked the ball. Dec you need to go I'm afraid."
VAR: "Kav, it's all checked and cleared. It's exactly as you've seen, exactly as you've seen."
Arsenal did not have Declan Rice available for their North London derby win over Tottenham, which ended 1-0 on September 15. However, he will likely partake in their midweek UEFA Champions League clash against Atalanta on September 19.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta's reaction to Declan Rice's red card
Mikel Arteta was furious when Declan Rice was sent off in the Brighton game, as it hurt their chances of winning and saw them eventually drop two points.
The Arsenal manager spoke about it after the game, complaining to the press about the inconsistencies of the refereeing (via Mirror);
"I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there were two incidents and nothing happened. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball."
Although Declan Rice's suspension saw Arsenal struggle against Tottenham Hotspur, they saw off their neighborhood rivals.
He will be instrumental when Arsenal return to Premier League action on the weekend, when the Gunners take on league leaders Manchester City.