Refa amoumba radhi Gibbs kwa kumpa kadi nyekundu kimakosa katika mchezo wa jana

Referee Andre Marriner has issued an abject apology after he sent off the wrong player in Arsenal’s humiliating 6-0 defeat by Chelsea, which appeared to end the north London club’s title hopes.

The dreadful error from one of the Premier League’s top referees saw Marriner finally dismiss Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs on 17 minutes, mistaking him for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had dived to tip Eden Hazard’s shot away with his hand.

The error was compounded by the fact that Oxlade-Chamberlain told the referee that he had committed the offence and that Hazard’s shot appeared to be going wide, so the referee could have deemed it a yellow card, judging that it was not an obvious goalscoring opportunity 

Mistaken identity: Gibbs (left) is shown a red card despite Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's handball

Admission: Oxlade-Chamberlain even approached Marriner to tell him it was he who handled the ball

Not needed: The handball was intentional but not necessary, with the ball going wide

The wrong man: Oxlade-Chamberlain protests with the referee, telling him 'It was me'

RED OR NOT?

FIFA laws of the game 2013-14: 'A player is sent off if he prevents a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. 

'The punishment arises not from the act of the player deliberately handling the ball but from the unacceptable and unfair intervention that prevented a goal being scored.'

Marriner, a FIFA referee who took charge of last year’s FA Cup final, appeared confused as he made the decision, consulting with his assistants.

But even after Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted to him that it was he who had handled the ball, he stuck by his decision to send off Gibbs. 

Marriner is likely to be dropped from at least the next round of Premier League games after the error.

A statement issued by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said: ‘Andre is an experienced referee and is obviously disappointed that an error of mistaken identity was made in this case.

‘Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors. While this was a difficult decision, Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player.

‘He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue