Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson is expected to be unavailable for the remainder of the Premier League season after a yellow card was escalated to a direct red during the match against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.
Newcastle had claimed the lead merely two minutes into this crucial encounter for a spot in the Champions League at St James’ Park. Both teams began the day within the top five of the league, but losing points could be costly with Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest positioned dangerously close in sixth and seventh places.
Jackson had only managed seven touches before he made aggressive contact with Sven Botman’s chin about thirty minutes into the game. It appeared they were contesting a long ball, but replays clearly depicted Jackson diverting his focus from the ball before striking his forearm against the Newcastle defender.
On-pitch referee John Brooks initially awarded Chelsea’s centre-forward a yellow card, but the official was quickly ushered across to the touch-side monitor.
The Premier League’s official Match Centre X account explained the sequence of events which led to Jackson’s dismissal: “VAR checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Jackson – and deemed that the challenge by Jackson on Botman was a serious foul play offence, therefore recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card.”
Law 12 in the FA handbook describes serious foul play as “a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality”.
The typical ban for a red card to punish “serious foul play” stands at three games. Unless Chelsea can successfully appeal Brooks’ decision, Enzo Maresca will be without his first-choice striker for the rest of the Premier League campaign, missing next Friday’s visit from Manchester United and the season-ending clash with fellow Champions League chasers Nottingham Forest.
Jackson, however, will be available for the upcoming Conference League final against Real Betis as suspensions for Premier League red cards do not carry over to continental competitions.
