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Football London
Football London
Sport
Josh Holland

Premier League's 'third man' rule explained after Ruben Dias incident

Premier League officiating has faced plenty of criticism in the last week after a number of controversial VAR calls.

Arsenal were the victim of ‘human-error’ in their 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday afternoon whilst Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan was denied his first goal for the club after being wrongly deemed offside.

However, many supporters would have noticed two incidents involving Mario Lemina and Ruben Dias. The pair were subject to a new ruling introduced by the FA and the PGMOL that will see players punished for dissent.

Wolves midfielder Lemina was sent off for a second yellow card in their 2-1 win over Southampton last Saturday after running over to challenge one of Jarrod Gillet's decisions. The sending off caused dismay amongst the Wolves players and staff, with Ruben Neves questioning the decision.

Read more: Premier League's five biggest VAR howlers against Arsenal during this season's title race

Neves said on BBC Sport: "You really want to know what he told me? So he told me there were two players running to him and because Mario was the third one he gave him a yellow card. So now we go and check the rules, if there is any."

The following day, Manchester City defender Dias was cautioned after challenging Robert Jones' decision during their 3-1 win over Aston Villa.

Both decisions have been scrutinised throughout the week, with some questioning whether a 'third man' rule applies regarding the third person in succession to question a referee's decision. This, however, has been shut down.

The FA and PGMOL are set to stamp down on dissent on the field and if they feel a player comes over to challenge a decision by either their demeanor or verbally, a yellow card may be shown.

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has rebuffed claims of a 'third man' rule. He told Sky Sport News on Monday: "'The difference with Dias is he comes an awfully long distance to make his point. That's what the referee is upset about there and it's nothing about being the third man there, it's all about players surrounding the referees.

"It has been reported to the FA and now they want to take more action.''

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