Premier League Releases Statement on Why Joao Pedro Avoids Red Card for Attempted Elbow

The Premier League has clarified the reason why Brighton's Joao Pedro avoided a red card despite attempting to elbow Brentford's Yehor Yarmolyukt during their goalless draw with Brentford on Friday night.

During the match, Yarmolyuk, who had just come on as a substitute, stopped a Brighton breakaway by pulling on Pedro's shirt. The Brighton forward reacted by throwing his right elbow toward the defender's face but missed.

The match was halted by referee Andy Madley to issue a yellow card to Yarmoliuk, who had entered the game just three minutes prior to committing the foul. However, he was quickly instructed by Chris Kavanagh, the VAR official for the match, to pause the game while the incident was reviewed. Despite video replays showing that Pedro had thrown his elbow in Yarmoliuk's direction, the offense was not considered serious enough for a red card.

The no-red card decision sparked a lot of controversy among football lovers, leading to the Premier League later issuing a statement via X (formerly Twitter) to clarify the decision. 

"The referee’s call of no red card to Joao Pedro for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed the referee’s call was not clear and obviously wrong."

The statement reads

The decision received mixed reactions from the teams' managers. Brentford's manager, Thomas Frank, expressed his disagreement, stating that Pedro's action deserved a red card.

"I think it's a red card." You can't swing your arm like that. It's like, if you want to punch or swing your arm like that, hit or no hit, as I understand with the laws, it's a red card."

Frank told Amazon Prime.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler defended his player, rejecting any claims of violent conduct.

"It's an interesting opinion. "I see it completely differently. For me, it's not a red card, why would it be a red card? You just try to get free from someone."

Hurzeler said while responding to Frank's statements.