FIFA has officially announced the dismissal of the officials and referees from the recent Chelsea vs Tottenham match. This decision comes after the referee failed to issue a red card following a dangerous tackle on Reece James and Poor Officiating

Tottenham Hotspur’s midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was determined to have narrowly escaped what match officials would classify as “serious foul play” following a forceful collision with Reece James’s ankle during a heated Premier League derby that unfolded on Saturday evening.

Throughout the match, Bentancur, along with his fellow Tottenham midfielders, struggled considerably to match the relentless tempo of the first half, which Chelsea controlled with commanding authority. The one-sided nature of the contest had extended deep into stoppage time, with the visiting side clinging to a slender one-goal advantage courtesy of João Pedro’s strike, when this famously fierce rivalry finally ignited its first spark of genuine controversy.

James won the race to reach a loose ball, but his reward proved painful as he absorbed the full impact of Bentancur’s studs crashing into his ankle. Match official Jarred Gillett, who found himself presiding over this notoriously volatile fixture for the very first time, wisely allowed himself a moment to deliberate. After engaging in a thorough exchange of opinions with the Video Assistant Referee stationed at Stockley Park, Gillett ultimately produced a yellow card rather than brandishing the more severe red. Compounding James’s palpable frustration and indignation at the verdict, his Chelsea teammate Trevoh Chalobah was also shown a yellow card for his vehement protests directed at the referee.

As the players retreated to their dressing rooms for the half-time interval that promptly arrived, the Premier League’s official match centre issued an explanatory statement: “The referee’s initial decision to caution Bentancur with a yellow card underwent thorough examination and ultimately received full confirmation from the VAR—with the contact being assessed as a reckless challenge rather than meeting the threshold for serious foul play.”

The FA Handbook’s Law 12 carefully delineates the subtle yet significant differences between what constitutes “reckless” challenges and what rises to the level of “serious foul play.”

A reckless challenge is characterized as: “When a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent.”

Serious foul play, by contrast, is defined as: “A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality.”