Referee Chris Kavanagh backs Declan Rice's red card, says 'I had no choice'

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) During Arsenal’s final match before the international break against Brighton & Hove Albion Declan Rice was sent off after receiving a second yellow for kicking the ball away and delaying the restart.

The Premier League's latest episode of Mic'd Up has now revealed what referee Chris Kavanagh said during the moment, claiming 'he had no choice' but to show the England midfielder a second booking.

"I don't like it, but he's knocked the ball. Second yellow, for me. I had no choice, he knocks the ball away. As [Veltman's] about to kick it, he knocks the ball. I have no choice. He's put me in an awful position. Dec, you need to go I'm afraid," said Chris.

The decision was not well perceived by football fans, as they believed it to be a harsh decision. The sending off resulted in Brighton scoring a goal and the game ending at 1-1, which saw Arsenal lose their first points of the season.

Howard Webb, the chief operation officer of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), backed Chris for his decision.

"He's clearly seen Declan Rice commit a foul, then kick the ball away for an opponent that was in the process of taking a free-kick. We've messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way.

"Once he's seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don't think he's got any choice," said Howard Webb on Mic'd up.

"I was shocked , I think you could see in my face I was shocked. I've not sprinted back at him and smashed the ball away, I've touched the ball with the back of my foot. But listen, this is the laws of the game. If you touch the ball even a little bit it’s a red card after my challenge in the first half. It was tough, it was harsh, but its one of those things and I have to move on from it," Rice had said in the post match interview.

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