Ex-Premier League referee: FA should slap Scott McTominay with extended ban as controversial Man United image emerges
The FA should intervene and give Scott McTominay a three-game ban for his challenge on Moises Caicedo as Man United lost 2-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday (7 August).
That is the view of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversial incident.
The 25-year-old was shown a yellow card when he planted his studs in Caicedo’s shin in the 25th minute.
VAR did not feel the need to intervene and the original decision was not overturned.
“McTominay‘s is a straight red,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“I’ve seen new instructions clearly go out to referees this weekend and I’m concerned on two points.
“One is they may have increased the threshold of involvement for VAR which leads to these types of problems.
“Why do they go against the laid down criteria by the IFAB, which is a ‘clear and obvious error’?
“The other one is the threshold for a foul. The laws of the game are quite specific – a foul is a foul. The law allows the referee to apply an advantage. Why have the PGMOL tried to interpret the laws differently from how they are written?
“The question I ask is, why was a clear red card offence by McTominay allowed? Why didn’t VAR come in?
“It didn’t need a threshold. This was a challenge that was on the shin of an opponent and a clear foul that endangered the safety of an opponent – he should have gone, 100 per cent.
“What’s important now is they go back and review this. They gave McTominay a yellow card, my view is this should be upgraded to a red.
“The FA should act. They will probably say they can’t because the referee gave a yellow.
“He will do it again.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has claimed Man United have banked a “seven-figure” windfall amid news from California.