Alli ‘handball’ did not even warrant a review

This was a difficult game to officiate even for an experienced referee such as Martin Atkinson, with players continuing the recent trend for going to ground too easily, the very difficult call over the handball against Dele Alli that was not given and, of course, the tackle on Andre Gomes that led to an extended period of stoppage time and what appeared a horrific injury.

Atkinson was in a good position to turn down Tottenham’s appeal for a penalty kick when Son Heung-min went down under the challenge of Yerry Mina. The video assistant referee Anthony Taylor reviewed the decision and I was happy that the initial call was upheld. What I took issue with, however, was that VAR needed to intervene at all. That would suggest that it was a clear and obvious error on the referee’s part when clearly that was not the case.

Nor was Atkinson’s decision not to award a penalty for a possible Alli handball a clear and obvious error. That was proved by the fact that Taylor needed more than three minutes to review the footage and ended up supporting the original decision. By the letter of the law, it probably should have been a penalty – albeit it would have been a harsh one – because Alli’s hand was raised above his head. But Taylor presumably was not convinced the Tottenham player made contact.

The delay, meanwhile, only worsened the atmosphere in the ground as fans grew frustrated and ended up voicing the frustration with officials. It is high time that the on-pitch referees started using the pitchside monitors. At least then they can retain their authority over the match and avoid such toxicity in the stands.

Atkinson was wrong to send off Son for the foul on Gomes.

The Premier League issued a statement clarifying that the decision was taken because the Spurs forward “endangered the safety of a player which happened as a consequence of his initial challenge”. However, the laws of the game say that, to warrant a dismissal, a challenge must involve excessive force or serious foul play. Which was not the case with Son. At worst, his tackle was reckless, which meant it should have been punished with a yellow card. Since when has the outcome of the challenge determined what course of action should be taken? It is the foul alone on which the decision should be judged.

Keith Hackett is a consultant for www.keystoreferee.com booked by Willie Mckay, the former agent and bankrupt, who helped broker the Argentine’s transfer to Cardiff and whose son, Mark, had been contracted by the French club to find a buyer.

The Welsh side contended that these damages should amount to the £15million transfer fee plus conditional bonus payments of up to £1.8million, thereby rendering Nantes’s own claim void.

The grounds read: “Cardiff maintained that, by hiring an unlicensed aircraft and employing an unlicensed and inexperienced pilot for the player’s flight of 19 January 2019, Mr Willie Mckay and his company had grossly failed in their duty of care. This alleged negligence resulted in the crash of the aircraft that caused the player’s decease.

“Consequently, according to Cardiff, the individuals involved in the flight operations should be deemed directly responsible for the damage suffered by Cardiff.”

Mckay has repeatedly stated he had no input into the selection of the relevant pilot or plane, which he booked via experienced lightaircraft pilot David Henderson.

Henderson was arrested in June on suspicion of manslaughter before being released on bail.

Cardiff declined to comment last night on the grounds for Fifa’s decision.