Alexis Mac Allister‘s red card against Bournemouth has been overturned upon an appeal from Liverpool to the FA.
Mac Allister was dismissed with half an hour remaining in Saturday’s 3-1 win, in what was his home debut for the Reds.
Referee Thomas Brammall brandished a red card following his challenge on Ryan Christie, and VAR Paul Tierney failed to either overturn or even have Brammall review footage pitchside.
News of the three-match ban being overturned is a huge boost for Liverpool, meaning the Argentine will be available for the forthcoming games against Newcastle United, Aston Vill and Wolves.
An FA spokesperson said: “An Independent Regulatory Commission has removed Alexis Mac Allister‘s three-match suspension following a claim of wrongful dismissal.
“The Liverpool midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during their Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday, 19 August.”
On Monday, Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League referee and now part of Sky Sports’ coverage said:
“I think the problem here, for me, is the referee thinks it’s a high tackle, but it only becomes a high tackle because both players are there.
“If you look, the boot actually catches him on the ankle. If his foot was on the ground and he still catches him in the same place, it’s not a high tackle.
“Not a red card for me.”
The news means Jurgen Klopp could field his new look midfield of Wataru Endo, Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai against Newcastle on Sunday.
This shows once again that the issue isn’t with ‘VAR’ but with the quality (or lack thereof) the officials using VAR or refereeing Premier League football matches.
Meanwhile, one of the VAR officials from Saturday’s game – the infamous Constantine Hatzidakis who assaulted Andy Robertson last season – has been appointed as assistant VAR again for the match at Newcastle on Sunday. Make sense of that one.
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