An incident during Sunderland’s win against Tottenham Hotspur has been reviewed by the Premier League Key Match Incidents Panel.
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A Premier League panel has ruled Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey should have been shown a red card in the recent win against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Premier League Key Match Incidents Panel was introduced during the 2022/23 season and is described as ‘an independent body tasked with evaluating key decisions made in football matches’. It consists of a member of the Premier League, a PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) member and three former players and coaches.
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Speaking at the time the KMI Panel was introduced, Premier League's Chief Football Officer Tony Scholes explained: "Assessments of the officials used to be carried out by the PGMOL themselves, and the accusation was that they were marking their own homework. The level of credibility of the accuracy results was questioned by clubs and everyone else in the game. So we thought it was important to introduce some kind of independence and objective measure of the accuracy."
Several incidents have been assessed at their latest meeting and one at the top of the agenda was a coming together between Sunderland striker Brobbey and Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero during the Black Cats’ 1-0 win against the Premier League relegation candidates earlier this month. The duo were chasing a loose ball as it headed towards Spurs keeper Antonin Kinsky and Brobbey appeared to push the Argentina defender and the collision that followed saw Romero suffer an injury that has ended his season.
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Former Ajax striker Brobbey had already been shown a yellow card during the first half of the game - but referee Rob Jones opted against showing a second and the Black Cats star remained on the pitch to help his side to a win and condemn their visitors to a defeat that heightened their relegation concerns. However, the KMI panel voted 3:2 that the decision by Jones was an error and ruled that "there is a two-handed push which is an unnecessarily reckless action".
In control
Speaking on Sky Sports ref watch just 24 hours after the game, former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher defended Brobbey stating: "I think we have to be careful that we don't get seduced by the outcome. If the goalkeeper is not there, a little nudge like that, are you sending him off for a second yellow card? The answer is most certainly no. Unluckily, the collision occurs and it ramps everything up but it's not a very serious foul. When you look at the nuts and bolts, it is just a little push."
Former Arsenal and Coventry City striker Jay Bothroyd added: “From a striker's point of view, forwards hate this because when you look at this, Romero is not in control of the ball and he's trying to block the player from getting the ball. They're not in control of the ball, he doesn't want control of the ball, and he's blocking him. At some point, Brobbey can't see the ball anymore so it's almost like a push to one side to see the ball. Those incidents happen because the defender is trying to shield the ball.”