Premier League make announcement about Chelsea incident vs Bournemouth
Chelsea were given a controversial penalty early on against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Estevao was brought down inside the penalty box by Antione Semenyo, who had been linked to Stamford Bridge ahead of the January transfer window.
However, referee Samuel Barrott deemed the challenge not worthy of a spot kick, with VAR then reviewing the decision.
After a review, the referee was advised to overturn this decision, which allowed Cole Palmer to equalise from 12 yards.
Now, the Premier League have released an announcement on the incident.
PALMER FROM THE SPOT! ⚽️
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 30, 2025
🔵 1-1🍒[15] #CFC | #CHEBOU pic.twitter.com/V963BSE3h7
VAR review help deem Antione Semenyo to have fouled Estevao inside penalty box
Chelsea have been at the centre of many controversial refereeing decisions this season, and this was yet again the case on Tuesday.
Earlier this month Chelsea played out a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, which had plenty of contentious decisions.
Now, as Estevao rushed into the penalty box, he made contact with Semenyo, with VAR advising Barrott to overturn his decision and give a Blues penalty.
Now, the Premier League has confirmed via X that this was due to the contact between Semenyo and Estevao being enough to warrant a foul and therefore a spot kick.
#CHEBOU – 11’ VAR OVERTURN
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) December 30, 2025
After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Chelsea.
Referee announcement: “After review, red 24 trips blue 41 inside the penalty area. My final decision will be penalty kick.”
The referee said on the incident: “After review, red 24 trips blue 41 inside the penalty area. My final decision will be penalty kick.”
What did Dion Dublin say on Chelsea’s penalty decision?
The decision to award Chelsea a penalty against Bournemouth will be debated throughout the week.
The contact between the two players was light, but it proved to be enough to bring Estevao down inside the box.
- Chelsea oversaw a chaotic first-half against Bournemouth
- The Blues went 1-0 down early on before quickly going 2-1 in front 23 minutes in
- However, Justin Kluivert equalised for the Cherries to ensure the teams were level at half-time
While many might argue that the contact was not enough to bring in a VAR review given they are only meant to review ‘clear and obvious errors’, Dion Dublin was not surprised that the Chelsea attacker went down inside of the box.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live on 30 December: “If you look at the replay, it’s the right shin of Semenyo on the left ankle of Estevao, which makes him trip over himself.
“It was not intentional but there’s contact.
“You’ve got to know that in that situation in the box, if you make contact the opponent will go down.”