Joel Veltman has admitted Declan Rice’s controversial red card against Brighton was “quite harsh”. The Arsenal midfielder was dismissed for a second bookable offence during the 1-1 draw at the Emirates last weekend.
Rice was already on a yellow card and was handed a second when kicking the ball away as Veltman tried to take a quick free-kick. Although Veltman kicked through Rice as the England international made contact with the ball, it was judged that Rice ended up fouling the Dutch defender.
Mikel Arteta revealed he was “amazed” by the sending off, while Micah Richards labelled it as one of the “worst decisions” in Premier League history. Now, Veltman has delivered his verdict on the incident and claimed himself that he did think it was soft and didn’t intend to get Rice sent off.
Speaking to Sky Sports on the incident, Veltman said: “For me it goes really far with common things on social media and we have a game coming up so I don’t want to say a lot about it, but the only thing I can say is that I didn’t want to kick him. It’s just that he kicked it away and I kicked him.”
“I find it quite harsh, if you see my reaction I was not going to the referee and asking for a second yellow card. I think he (Rice) gave an amazing comment that has personally surprised me about him is that he told the media after the game ‘I didn’t need to kick it, I know better’. That’s amazing personality from him.”
Meanwhile, a referee assessment panel has supported Chris Kavanagh’s decision to send Rice off. The Key Match Incidents board – which reviews major refereeing decisions each week – said Rice’s nudge of the ball away from Joel Veltman, thereby delaying the restart of play, a free-kick, was “clear, deliberate and impactful”.
Kavanagh’s decision was unanimously backed by the panel, made up of three former players or coaches, and representatives of PGMOL and the Premier League. A verdict statement said: “Rice knows what he’s doing – it’s a gentle touch, but once the referee sees it he has no choice.”
Rice is now set to serve a one-game suspension and will miss this Sunday’s North London Derby against Tottenham. He is not the only midfielder expected to sit out, with Mikel Merino sidelined with a shoulder issue, while Martin Odegaard could miss the match after suffering an ankle injury playing for Norway on Monday.
