Tomas Soucek red card overturned by FA: West Ham successfully appeal Mike Dean’s VAR decision

Mike Dean controversially dismissed Soucek
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Rosser @JackRosser_8 February 2021

West Ham have successfully appealed the red card Tomas Soucek received against Fulham on Saturday.

The Czech midfielder, who will now be available for Tuesday's trip to Manchester United, was controversially sent off by Mike Dean after VAR Lee Mason had told the referee to review an incident where Soucek accidentally caught Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic with his elbow.

Mitrovic, having dramatically fallen to the ground, told referee Dean that it was accidental but the decision was still made to show Soucek a straight red in injury time, which would have resulted in a three-match ban if upheld.

Soucek tweeted following the appeal, saying: "I am glad my red card against Fulham has been overturned. I’ve checked it, I’ve gone over 200 games without a single red card.

"My entire career. I am looking forward to helping the team in the important games this week! Thanks for your support!"

Speaking after the game, Moyes said he was "embarrassed" for Dean and Mason that they would make such a decision. It is the second red card in a week shown by Dean that has been overturned after Southampton successfully appealed Jan Bednarek's sending-off during their 9-0 defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday.

Mason is set to be the fourth official at Old Trafford when Moyes and his side visit in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

Speaking ahead of the trip to his former club, Moyes urged officials not to reward players for going down dramatically and drawing soft decisions for opposing players.

"My reflections are that I'm disappointed with football in general," Moyes said. "That the officials involved would allow these situations to take over the game. The first question's about that. Given the decision, there was no decision to give.

"I think every footballer's got a responsibility to do the correct thing. I feel that officials are giving footballers the opportunity to gain success in some way from their actions. The only people who can stop it are the officials. If players are going to be successful, gaining an advantage in the game, we can't let that happen."

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