The red card to Fikayo Tomori was a key moment in Milan’s loss to Chelsea yesterday but despite seeming harsh, it was technically the correct call according to the laws of the game.
In the 17th minute of the match, the English defender was beaten to a through-ball by Mason Mount and found himself on the wrong side of the Chelsea man. Mount managed to get a limp shot away after jostling with Tomori and eyebrows were instantly raised when referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot and produced a red card, sending off the Rossoneri centre back.
Replays showed that Tomori had his right hand clutched on Mount’s shoulder and he seemingly made two attempts to pull back the Englishman, who did his best to stay on his feet. A penalty was seemingly a harsh call but the sending off further infuriated and confused fans, especially those who thought of the ‘double jeopardy’ rule.
In Law 12 of the IFAB’s Laws of the Game, denying a goal scoring opportunity in the penalty area is only a yellow card if the offence is a genuine attempt at playing the ball. It’s explicitly stated that in ‘all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off.’
Because referee Siebert awarded Chelsea a penalty for Tomori’s foul, the red card was technically the right call because the offence was a pulling action and therefore not an attempt to play the ball. Whether the pulling was heavy enough to award a penalty or not is a different consideration.