Red for a two-footed challenge: Is it justified?

The match is Liverpool vs Manchester United and the ball goes loose on the field. The next thing you expect is that the opposing players come in hard to win the ball. This is exactly what happened in the previous match between these old rivals. Jonjo Shelvey of Liverpool, and Jonny Evans of Manchester United, both came in two-footed to win the ball. In the end, Shelvey got sent off for a tackle, which was never malicious enough for a straight red. However, the only thing the referee got wrong was that even Evans should have got a red for his two-footed tackle.

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Shelvey’s sending off was justified because of a new rule implemented earlier this year by the chief of referees, Mike Riley. As per the rule, all two-footed tackles will be punished with a red card whether or not there is contact or injury to an opponent — and even if the ball is won first. This move was done in an attempt to remove dangerous tackles. Vincent Kompany of Manchester City, Didier Drogba of Chelsea, Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea , all have suffered because to this new rule.

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Vincent Kompany’s tackle which fetched him a red card

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So in a contact sport like football, how do define a two footed tackle as dangerous? In the FA cup third round clash between Manchester United and Manchester City last year, Vincent Kompany simply put his feet in the path of the incoming ball. He didn’t charge at Nani, he didn’t touch Nani and his studs weren’t even facing Nani. The tackle had nothing dangerous about it. Still Kompany was punished with a red card. How do you expect a player to lie down with only one leg in the path of an incoming ball without doing splits.

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Rio Ferdinand did a similar tackle against Luis Suarez in the penalty box yesterday. It was a brilliant tackle, and football is all about such last ditch attempts to win the ball. In the QPR vs Chelsea match last season, Didier Drogba won the ball with a two-footed tackle which resulted in him getting sent off. In this controversial incident, Drogba merely jumped on the ball, clipping the toe of opponent in the process. This tackle was sadly termed as dangerous by the referee and Drogba got sent off.

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The new ruling was expected to bring consistency in the referee’s decisions in terms of dangerous tackles. However, in the carling cup semi-final match between Man City and Liverpool previous season, Glen Johnson managed to escape punishment after a two footed tackle.Even if the referee saw the foul, it was at the most a yellow card offense.

Glen Johnson not punished for this two-footed challenge

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Luiz’s tackle on Jon Walters

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So why term all two-footed challenges as dangerous,when the required consistency in decisions is still not achieved? Why not give send off a player depending on the situation instead of a style of tackle?

Due to this new ruling, many dangerous tackles are escaping punishment. Just because the tackles were done with one leg, the referee decided to give only a yellow card for the offense. David Luiz of Chelsea, Jamie Carragher of Liverpool and Alan Hutton of Aston Villa, have avoided getting sent off after making leg-breaking challenges.

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In Chelsea vs Stoke on Saturday, Luiz made a wild lunge on Stoke City player Jon Walters. This tackle left the Stoke boss, Tony Pulis, fuming.The tackle had everything dangerous in it. The player was charging in,the studs were up and the contact was away from the ball.Even though this tackle by Luiz deserved a red card, the referee only produced the yellow card.

In a similar incident, Jamie Carragher went and crashed into Nani of Man Utd which resulted in the United player being carried off in a stretcher. The tackle was so hard, that the stud marks were clearly visible on Nani’s shin. After all the complaints by United players, the referee let off Carragher with a yellow card.

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Liverpool v Manchester United - Premier League

LIVERPOOL, UNITED KINGDOM – MARCH 06: Nani of Manchester United lies on the pitch following a challenge by Jamie Carragher of Liverpool. Stud marks are clearly visible on Nani’s left shin.

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Another one of these dangerous challenges was done by Alan Hutton on Shane Long of West Brom. The Aston Villa defender lunged at Shane Long’s knee, studs up. The West Brom striker just about managed to avoid a ligament tear, but still got injured out for 6 weeks. The referee didn’t see anything wrong with Hutton’s challenge.

None of the two-footed tackles, done in recent history, have been so dangerous and so damaging to the opponents as the above mentioned, one-footed tackles. Still the players managed to get sent off because they went in with two legs instead of one. The referees should have sent of Luiz, Carragher and Hutton for high studs and malicious intent instead of Kompany, Drogba and Shelvey.

Jonny Evans escaped from punishment while Shelvey couldn’t. In football, you want players to show commitment and go for the ball. If the tackle is not malicious, two-footed tackle should not be punished. Sometimes on the field, the players have to use unconventional techniques to win the ball. Not all tackles will be proper one-footed slides which will not touch the opponent in any manner. It is better that FA look into this new ruling before good two-footed tackles get punished and wild one-footed challenges escape punishment.

Edited by Staff Editor
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