REFEREE RILEY UNDER FIRE OVER COLE LET-OFF
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Referee Mike Riley is set to pay a high price for allowing Ashley Cole to walk away from his horror tackle on Tottenham’s Alan Hutton with just a booking.
Chelsea full-back Cole caused uproar on the Spurs bench when he lunged at Hutton with a high tackle and his studs showing. Fortunately, Hutton escaped unhurt but, to the amazement of nearly everybody inside White Hart Lane, Cole also escaped with just a yellow card.
To make matters worse, Cole turned his back on Riley when receiving his booking, prompting the official to tell him: “Ashley, you’re going to get sent off in a minute. Show me some respect, calm down.” But, despite his unapologetic attitude towards Riley, Cole told Hutton he did not try to hurt him and also said sorry in a statement released by Chelsea.
Cole’s statement read: “I’d like to apologise to anyone I offended and of course Alan Hutton, who I tackled. “I didn’t mean to go in hard that way. It was high but I tried to read the ball and get the ball first, but he was a little bit too quick for me.”
On his reaction to Riley, Cole added: “I’m an emotional person. Things can happen on the pitch very quickly but I didn’t mean to disrespect the referee. “I recognise this is a part of my game that I need to work on and control.”
The FA cannot retrospectively punish Cole for either his challenge or his reaction to being booked because Riley was deemed to have dealt with the incident at the time. But as the Chelsea and England full-back gets off all but scot-free, in a bizarre twist it will be Riley who faces the rap for his performance at Spurs on Wednesday.
Referees supremo Keith Hackett will take a dim view of the fact Riley only booked Cole and will not be happy he allowed the player to show him disrespect. Riley was already under close scrutiny because the game represented his return to the middle. He was ‘rested’ for last weekend’s Premier League programme after criticism over his handling of the 1-1 draw between Fulham and Blackburn on March 8.
Hackett will now think twice before giving Riley high-profile matches to officiate in the near future. Chelsea manager Avram Grant was unhappy with the way Tottenham’s players and officials reacted to Cole’s challenge on defender Hutton. “I was angry that everyone jumped on him, including their bench,” said Grant. “When we do these things people say we are not behaving right.”
FIFA, meanwhile, are expected to have talks with the FA in an effort to increase the three-game ban imposed on Birmingham’s Martin Taylor for breaking Arsenal striker Eduardo’s leg with a tackle last month.