IFAB laws suggest Athletic Club could have had a man sent off against Rangers this evening.
Cyriel Dessers had his shirt pulled by Daniel Vivian in the box. He went down, and the striker’s jersey was ripped.
Indeed, had Vivian not brought Dessers down, he would have been through on goal and had a clear opportunity to score. Because Vivian didn’t attempt to play the ball, too, he should have been ordered off, in accordance with IFAB laws, and Rangers should have been given a penalty.
Rules state: “Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.), the offending player must be sent off.”
Ally McCoist was highly critical of the non-awarding of a spot-kick: “That’s a penalty,” he said [live on TNT Sports].
“He [Dessers] has every right to be unhappy. I’m not sure which part of that isn’t a penalty.
“It’s embarrassing, what a state of affairs. It’s an absolute embarrassment. Holy smokes.”
Similarly, Giovanni van Bronckhorst thinks his old team should have had a chance to score from 12 yards. He said: “‘He’s getting pulled, his shirt is damaged.
“For this, it’s a penalty. I want to know the explanation why not.”
