Arsenal Fined After Lewis-Skelly Red Card Drama

Despite Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card being overturned, the FA has punished Arsenal for their players’ furious reaction at Molineux.

February 17, 2025
8:54 pm

Arsenal just got hit with a hefty £65,000 fine from the Football Association after their fiery reaction to Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial red card in the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The FA shared the news: “An independent Regulatory Commission has slapped Arsenal with a £65,000 fine related to the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, 25 January.

“It was said that Arsenal didn’t keep their players in check around the 43rd minute. The club admitted to the charge, and the Commission decided on this fine after a hearing.”

The drama unfolded at Molineux when referee Michael Oliver sent Lewis-Skelly off for what he called ‘serious foul play’ on Matt Doherty. This sparked a heated reaction from Arsenal’s players, who crowded around the referee in protest, while manager Mikel Arteta was clearly upset on the sidelines.

Arsenal quickly appealed the red card, which was eventually overturned. But even with the appeal’s success, the FA explained why the club still faced punishment. In his post-match report, Oliver mentioned: “After the 43rd-minute dismissal, several Arsenal players surrounded me to protest the decision.”

Don’t miss out – click below for the best odds and exclusive bonuses!

The reasons for the fine made it clear that the overturned red card didn’t play a role in the charge, stating: “The Commission emphasized that it’s important not to mix up the referee’s decision to send off Myles Lewis-Skelly and the later overturning of that decision with this case. This is simply about how the AFC players reacted to the referee’s call during the game.

“Football is full of controversial calls, and clubs need to make sure their players accept those decisions, even if they strongly believe there was a mistake. So, the Commission didn’t see the correctness of the referee’s decision to send off MLS as a reason to lessen the penalty.”

The FA’s report showed that up to nine Arsenal players surrounded Oliver during the incident, making things worse. It noted: “The length of the misconduct, how close the players were to the referee, the number of players involved, and their refusal to back off when told all made this a serious issue.”

Other reasons in the FA’s ruling included: “The unacceptable length of time the incident took—AFC players protested for about 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

“The aggressive nature of the AFC protests—several players rushed towards the referee when he showed the red card and were intimidatingly close and animated while surrounding him. The AFC players kept protesting even after one of their own had been cautioned.”

This is the sixth charge Arsenal has faced for similar issues in the last five years. However, the FA did recognize that Arteta’s team has shown better discipline over the past year.