Arsenal used a clip of Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes’ overturned red card against Tottenham earlier this season as part of their appeal for Myles Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal at Wolves last weekend.
Lewis-Skelly was sent off just before half-time of Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Wolves, with referee Michael Oliver deeming his trip on defender Matt Doherty to be “serious foul play”.
Arsenal appealed the decision on Tuesday and they were successful, with a three-person commission - made up of Independent Football Panel Members of the FA Judicial Panel - all agreeing Lewis-Skelly’s three-match ban should be removed.
The Football Association have now published the written reasons from the case, which took place on Tuesday via a video conference.
Part of Arsenal’s appeal involved using video clips, including severe angles of the challenge made by Lewis-Skelly.
The club, however, also used a clip of Fernandes’ tackle on Spurs midfielder James Maddison earlier this season during Manchester United’s defeat to Tottenham. Fernandes was shown a red card at the time, but it was later overturned on appeal.
Arsenal also showed a clip of a tackle by Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes from Saturday’s game, which resulted in him receiving a second yellow card as opposed to a straight red.
A challenge made by Liverpool midfielder Alexis MacAllister, which was later overturned on appeal, was also shown by Arsenal.
The Gunners were successful in their appeal and Lewis-Skelly will be available to face Manchester City this weekend.
In the FA’s written reasons, it states: “The Commission members were unanimous in their opinion that the Referee had made an obvious error in sending off MLS for the challenge that he made.
“The challenge was certainly ‘Foul Play’ but it obviously could not, to the mind of the Commission, be categorised as having been ‘Serious Foul Play’.
“MLS had stepped across his opponent and tripped him up, possibly deliberately, but in doing so he had obviously not endangered the safety of his opponent or used excessive force or brutality, nor had he ‘lunged’ in at his opponent.
“The Club’s claim for Wrongful Dismissal was therefore deemed to have been successful and the standard punishment withdrawn.”
