The discussion has come up again after Arsenal and Manchester City both suffered after having a player sent off because of a foul in a goal scoring opportunity.
The argument is that a team is unfairly punished three times.
- Penalty
- Sending off and the team has to play short
- A suspension
So what should be taken away?
- No penalty even though the player that was fouled would have most likely scored a goal?
- Fouling player is allowed to continue playing even though they committed a foul that most likely stopped a goal?
- Fouling player does not serve a suspension?
If any, maybe no suspension, but why should this red card be treated differently then any other red card? Or should no one that receives a red card serve a suspension?
Does the game suffer when a team is forced to play with 10? Yeah probably, but when the referee has clearly made the correct decision it’s not his fault nor the fault of the rules. It’s the players’ fault.
If we start making the rules more lenient, violent fouls will surely increase, since players will not be held responsible.
What do you think?