‘Unanimously’—Why Gabriel Went Unpunished Over Emiliano Martinez Incident
The Premier League’s Key Match Incident’s (KMI) Panel ruled that the decision not to show Gabriel a red card for kicking Emiliano Martínez in the face during Arsenal’s win over Chelsea in early September was correct, deeming the action not an act of violent conduct.
The action occurred inside the opening five minutes of the match when Martin Ødegaard delivered a teasing set piece from the right that Riccardo Calafiori nudged towards goal. Chaos ensued.
Multiple players from both teams fell and got tangled up on the ground after Calafiori’s shot was blocked. It became a melee in the box, with players trying to either clear the ball, hit it towards goal, simply find it or, in Martínez’s case, grab hold of it.
It was during this chaos that Gabriel attempted to kick the ball but instead hit Martínez near the eye with his boot. Chelsea players immediately complained about the stray foot and appealed for a red card, as the goalkeeper needed medical attention. Still, neither match referee Chris Kavanagh nor the VAR official on duty deemed the Brazilian’s action worthy of any punishment.
The Blues were leading at the time but the Arsenal managed to overturn the deficit to defeat their London neighbors 2–1 in one of the first marquee matchups of the 2026–27 Premier League season.
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The Explanation for No Red Card
The Premier League KMI Panel—comprised of five independent members that review significant refereeing decisions from every game—unanimously ruled that the decision not to send off Gabriel for the kick was the right call.
“The panel unanimously supported the referee’s call of no red card,” the panel’s ruling stated. “Multiple players were on the ground competing and challenging for the loose ball, and the action of Gabriel was not deemed to be an act of violent conduct or serious foul play.”
The Football Association deems it violent conduct “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a teammate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made.”
In this instance, Gabriel was trying to nudge the loose ball towards the net in a chaotic sequence of events, and although he missed the ball and directly hit the goalkeeper’s face, the referee, VAR and KMI agree that it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent.
Former Premier League referee Graham Scott, responding in a Q&A for The Athletic, agreed with the decision not to punish Gabriel, as match officials referees are also “asked to be more tolerant when players are desperately trying to score or defend their goal.”
In the end, as controversial as the decision might seem, especially how the game unfolded after, there’s a consensus agreement that the action was judged correctly.
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