Aston Villa defender Matty Cash was shown a yellow card on Saturday for taking off his shirt as he displayed a message in support of his Poland international teammate caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tomasz Kedziora plays for Dynamo Kyiv and is thought to be still in the city with his family as the Russian army descends on the capital.
On Saturday morning, the Polish national team released a statement announcing they would boycott their World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final with Russia next month, and it also included a message of support for Kedziora.
After scoring a well-taken goal for Villa in their Premier League encounter at Brighton, Cash, whose mother is Polish and has earned two caps for the national team, celebrated by revealing a message on his T-shirt which read: “Tomasz Kedziora and family, stay strong bro.”
Taking charge of only his third Premier League match, referee John Brooks showed Cash a yellow card, a decision based on the league’s rule which states players must not take their shirt off when celebrating, designed to ensure sponsors are visible.
On Sky Sports, Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling was aghast, saying: ‘It’s a message for people in Ukraine, and he’s been booked for it! John Brooks is inexperienced Premier League referee. Hopefully when people come to their senses they [the Premier League] will just ignore that.”
