Arsenal fined by FA for response to overturned Lewis-Skelly red card

Arsenal have been hit with a heavy fine after the Football Association (FA) have decided to charge the Gunners for their their furious response to Myles Lewis-Skelly's red card against Wolves earlier this season.

"An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a £65,000 fine on Arsenal in relation to the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 25 January," reads a statement from the Football Association. "It was alleged that Arsenal failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper way around the 43rd minute, and the club subsequently admitted to this charge. The Regulatory Commission imposed this sanction following a hearing."

Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off by Michael Oliver at Molineux on matchday 23 of the Premier League, with the official deeming the English defender's challenge on Matt Doherty to be 'serious foul play'.  The decision left everyone at the club enraged as an appeal was filed immediately after the match to contest the decision.

Despite the red card being overturned in the end, the FA have explained that Arsenal have been handed a fine for their behaviour with Oliver, who was surrounded by red and white shirts contesting the red card in a "relatively forceful nature" resulting in "aggravating the misconduct." The entity also considered it "unacceptable" that Arsenal players spent around 2 minutes and 15 seconds protesting the decision with the official

The FA added: "The Commission noted that it is important in this case not to conflate the decision of the Referee to dismiss Lewis Myles-Skelly (‘MLS’) and the subsequent overturning of that decision with the matter at hand.  This case is simply concerned with the timely acceptance, or rather the non-acceptance, by the AFC players of a decision made by the Referee during the game. 

Football matches are invariably peppered with controversial refereeing decisions and it is incumbent upon football clubs to make sure that their players accept those decisions even when their players vehemently believe that a mistake has been made by the Referee.  As such the Commission did not consider the correctness of the Referee’s decision to send off MLS as having been a relevant consideration in terms of mitigation.

 

February 17, 2025