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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

IFAB rules that explain why Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli was controversially sent off vs Wolves

The International Football Association Board may have already explained why Gabriel Martinelli was sent off during Arsenal's 1-0 win over Wolves.

Mikel Arteta's side secured all three points in Thursday's Premier League clash at Molineux Stadium thanks to a first-half strike from Gabriel Magalhaes, but the Gunners manager was left infuriated after Brazilian attacker Martinelli controversially received his marching orders just after the hour mark.

Referee Michael Oliver sent the youngster off with 21 minutes to play, brandishing the former Ituano star two yellow cards from one passage of play after initially playing an advantage following his first offence.

A similar incident occurred back in 2015 when Northern Ireland ace Chris Baird was handed a red card by Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir after the midfielder committed two fouls within seconds of each other, with play not stopped for the first foul.

The Green and White Army were extremely frustrated with the decision, although IFAB secretary Lukas Brud told the Irish Football Association at the time that that the referee was within his rights to hand Baird two yellows in the manner that he did.

Brud said: "In referee education, match officials are reminded that playing an advantage for a cautionable offence runs the risk that the offending player may commit a second cautionable offence, but the spirit of advantage should be considered especially if by stopping to issue the caution, the non-offending team loses a clear promising attack."

Similarly, the IFAB's rulebook for the 2021/22 campaign states that players should be sent off if: "Where two separate cautionable offences are committed (even in close-proximity), they should result in two cautions, for example if a player enters the field of play without the required permission and commits a reckless tackle or stops a promising attack with a foul/handball, etc."

Martinelli's sending off will see him miss next week's match against Brentford at the Emirates Stadium, potentially handing Hale End academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe a chance in Arteta's starting XI.

Smith Rowe is currently the club's top scorer for the season, notching nine goals across all competitions, including eight in the Premier League.

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