Many viewers of the England v Austria friendly warm up game for this month’s UEFA European Championships were probably as disappointed at the standard of the England team as was my telephone caller, but he also had a query.
Why did the referee show Trent Alexander-Arnold a yellow card?
Towards the end of the game, the English right back suffered what appeared to be a thigh injury.
He hobbled off the pitch, seemingly in an attempt to attract the attention of England’s physiotherapist but no treatment was forthcoming.
Although in obvious discomfort, Trent hobbled back on to the pitch after the referee had decided
to restart the game.
What I think prompted the referee then to issue the yellow card was the clause in the Laws of the Game which says: “A player is cautioned if guilty of entering, re-entering or leaving the field of play without the referees permission.”
This doesn’t mean when collecting the ball when it goes out in the course of the game or for players leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal.
It’s not a clause often evoked but I have seen it twice in matches at the Madejski Stadium.
The first one was when a player on the touchline after having treatment, didn’t wait to be called on but rushed on to intercept the ball, stopping a promising Reading attack.
After the yellow card was shown, the player had to retreat to the touchline and play restarted with
an indirect free kick.
The other occasion was also a player coming on to pitch after treatment, without the referee’s permission. However, the ball was in possession of a Reading player just outside the opponent’s penalty area, when the referee spotted the intruder.
The referee’s first error was to immediately stop the game and show the yellow card, because the player wasn’t interfering with the play so he should have waited. His next mistake was to restart with
a dropped ball.
Alexander-Arnold’s action wasn’t anything like this and a yellow card was perhaps a little harsh in
the circumstances.
Worse was his injury putting him out of the Euros.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
