Former PGMOL chief reveals his view on Rangers’ Aberdeen red-card incident

Former PGMOL chief explains why Afeez Aremu escaped red card against Rangers

Former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Keith Hackett believes referee Matthew MacDermid made the correct call by showing Afeez Aremu a yellow card during Rangers’ 1-0 win over Aberdeen.

The decision became one of the talking points from Sunday’s closely fought encounter, with Rangers supporters questioning why the Aberdeen midfielder was not dismissed following his challenge on Cameron Devlin.

Aremu went in with a sliding tackle and caught Devlin high on the leg, leading to strong reactions from those inside the stadium. MacDermid opted to punish the Aberdeen player with a booking rather than upgrade the offence to a red card.

After reviewing the incident, Hackett told Football Insider that the challenge was certainly close to the threshold for a sending-off, but he believes there was an important factor that influenced the correct decision.

Hackett explained that the incident was subjective and ultimately depended on the referee’s assessment of the challenge.

“This is subjective and down to the match official. He’s certainly come in late and high,” Hackett said.

However, the former PGMOL chief believes the absence of deliberate intent or malice meant the tackle did not necessarily warrant the ultimate punishment.

Aremu’s challenge was undoubtedly dangerous, particularly because of the height and timing of the tackle, but Hackett’s assessment suggests that those factors alone do not automatically make an incident a red-card offence.

The decision will nevertheless remain open to debate, particularly given the physical nature of the match and several other challenges during Rangers’ narrow victory.

For MacDermid, though, Hackett’s analysis provides strong backing for his decision to keep Aremu on the pitch and issue a yellow card instead.