VAR decision upheld despite panel ruling on Cole Palmer challenge

A Premier League refereeing panel has ruled that Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer should have been shown a straight red card during his side’s 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, although it agreed that the video assistant referee was right not to intervene.

The decision comes shortly after Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees admitted that a penalty awarded to Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe against Racing Santander was incorrect.

The incident involving Palmer occurred during the London derby on 24 October, in the eighth round of the Premier League. Referee Chris Kavanagh initially showed the England international a yellow card in the 70th minute after he pushed Tottenham midfielder Matheus Fernandes.

Palmer was later dismissed after receiving a second yellow card for a challenge on Conor Gallagher.

However, the Premier League’s five-member Key Match Incidents Panel voted 3-2 that Palmer’s first offence should have been punished with a direct red card. The majority believed he had deliberately made head contact with Fernandes and that the action was unnecessary, dangerous and carried out with excessive force.

“The majority felt that Palmer’s action towards Fernandes involved clear head contact and was unnecessary, dangerous and carried out with excessive force,” the panel said in its decision, published by the Premier League.

Despite that conclusion, all five members agreed that VAR John Brooks was correct not to recommend a review. They decided that Kavanagh’s decision to issue a yellow card did not constitute a “clear and obvious error” requiring VAR intervention.

The panel also backed Palmer’s second yellow card by a majority of 4-1.

Palmer has already served a one-match suspension, missing Chelsea’s defeat by Liverpool in the League Cup. Had the first incident been classified as a straight red, he would have received a three-match ban.

That would have ruled him out of Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United, in which he scored a penalty, as well as the club’s next match against Sunderland.

Tottenham penalty decision

The panel also considered another incident from the same fixture and voted 3-2 that Tottenham should have been awarded a penalty in the 85th minute.

The majority judged that Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo had fouled Dominic Solanke, saying: “Caicedo was holding Solanke continuously while being away from the ball, which affected the opponent’s ability to progress.”

The panel nevertheless supported the decision by the video assistant referee not to intervene, again by a 3-2 vote.

Tottenham secured only their second league victory over Chelsea in 36 years. An own goal from Mike Penders put them ahead in the 77th minute before Mathys Tel added a second in the closing stages.

In Spain, the refereeing committee had similarly acknowledged a serious error after concluding that the contact between Mbappe and Racing Santander defender Mateo Prati did not warrant a penalty during Real Madrid’s 3-0 win in the 11th round of La Liga.