Declan Rice was shown the first red card of his career on Saturday when he was dismissed 49 minutes into Arsenal‘s 1-1 draw against Brighton.
The Gunners midfielder was issued with a yellow card in the first half for a late challenge on Joel Veltman.
Defender Veltman was also involved in the incident that resulted in Rice receiving his second booking shortly after half-time.
Rice fouled Veltman, who then kicked the Arsenal star, sending him to the floor.
Arsenal fans screamed at referee Chris Kavanagh, urging him to send off Veltman for violent conduct.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was sent off during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton
Rice pictured (centre) complaining to referee Chris Kavanagh (right) at the Emirates Stadium
However, Kavanagh instead dismissed Rice, while Veltman survived a brief VAR check for a possible red card.
Veltman had seemingly been trying to kick the ball, instead of Rice, but the former West Ham captain cheekily flicked it away just before the Brighton man could take a quick free-kick.
Indeed, the Premier League issued a short statement via X (formerly Twitter) to confirmed why Rice had been punished.
It read: ‘The referee issued a second yellow card to Declan Rice for delaying the restart.’
A player kicking the ball away to waste time or prevent the opposing team taking a set-piece has been an offence deemed worthy of a yellow card in the Premier League for over a decade now.
Rice flicked the ball away with his right foot to stop No 34 Joel Veltman taking a quick free-kick
However, the Premier League still mentioned kicking the ball away when it issued an update including new rules ahead of the start of the 2024-25 season.
The relevant message came at the bottom of a section about the multiball system, which stated that players must now retrieve balls from strategically-placed cones and not directly from ‘ball assistants’ (ball boys and ball girls).
The passage read: ‘It remains the case that a club’s technical area staff who deliberately delay the restart of play by holding on to the ball, kicking the ball away, etc will be sent off.
‘Any players who do the same in the technical area will receive a yellow card.’
Despite Rice’s red card being by the book, Arsenal fans vented their anger at Kavanagh throughout the rest of Saturday’s game, calling him a ‘w*****’ and booing at full-time.
Arsenal star Rice looked shocked and frustrated as he walked off the pitch after his dismissal
Referee Kavanagh was escorted off the field by security staff following Saturday’s final whistle
Arsenal were 1-0 up when Rice went off thanks to a first-half strike from Kai Havertz.
But Brighton hit back against the 10-man Gunners when Joao Pedro equalised in the 58th minute.
Rice will now serve a one-game suspension, which will see him miss Arsenal’s trip to rivals Tottenham Hotspur on September 15.
