A pity the ref couldn’t use his discretion

BY the letter of the law, Lee Probert was right to caution Demarai Gray for removing his shirt. The laws of the game are clear in that if a player takes off his shirt or lifts it over his head when celebrating a goal, he should be automatically shown a yellow card. Probert will have been in dialogue with the PGMOL — the body responsible for match officials — during the last week and agreed on a procedure on how best to handle the sensitive nature of this match. He will have also raised this issue when he addressed the captains and managers an hour before kick-off. Leicester manager Claude Puel accepted Probert’s decision, saying after the game that he expected the referee to be as professional as his players. It was a difficult situation for any referee to find themselves in. You are open to criticism whichever decision you take. While Probert was correct to apply the law, I feel that in exceptional circumstances such as this referees should be able to manage situations and use some common sense.