adminFormer referee Mark Clattenburg has claimed Emmanuel Fernandez should have been dismissed during Celtic vs Rangers.
The former Premier League official believes the Rangers centre-back avoided a sending-off at Celtic Park after John Beaton failed to award a foul just outside the box.
The defender had already been shown a yellow card for a foul on Camilo Duran in the early stages of the game. However, Clattenburg dismissed suggestions that the incident warranted a straight red card.
Speaking on the So Near, Yet So VAR show, he said: “When I watched it live, I never even thought about a red card. One side wants a red card, the other side doesn’t.
“The likelihood of Duran getting to the ball is high, of course, but he’s got a lot more to do.”
However, the former official was surprised that Fernandez stayed on the field following a challenge on Benjamin Nygren.
The Rangers defender appeared to obstruct the Celtic midfielder in a wide area, but referee Beaton allowed play to continue.
Clattenburg was surprised that no free-kick was given, suggesting the referee would probably have been forced to send Fernandez off had he awarded the foul.
He said: “I’m not saying the referee’s bottled it because only the referee knows what he’s doing.
“But if you look at other challenges that happened later in the game and received yellow cards, this is not consistent.
“Forget about the times, forget about the player. If you isolate yourself and go, ‘Was this a yellow card?’ It’s a yellow card.
“He stops the promising attack because when you stop at the moment the contact’s made, the hold, there’s two-on-two going inside the penalty area.
“That’s what referees call a promising attack. That’s what the football game expects as a promising attack.
“Therefore, a yellow card should have been issued, and a red card.
“Unfortunately, because the referee doesn’t give a free-kick and because VAR cannot issue a second yellow card, the VAR cannot interfere.
“It was John Beaton’s decision. He hasn’t given a free-kick, which I was shocked at, but also by not giving the free-kick, he’s probably got himself out of having to issue the second yellow.
“Maybe he’s clever by not giving the free-kick – but a free-kick should have been awarded.”
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