Iconic ref explains reasons Portsmouth man likely won't get Marvin Johnson-style ban for tackle that left Sheffield Wednesday incensed

That’s the view of iconic former Premier League referee and ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett, who explained to The Star why it is ‘highly unlikely’ there will be any further punishment for Raggett, whose two-footed lunge in the 87th minute was punished with only a yellow card during the Owls’ 1-0 Fratton Park win.

Last month Wednesday winger Marvin Johnson was retrospectively banned for three matches after Ipswich Town’s Wes Burns wrote to the FA to describe his belief Johnson had intentionally elbowed him.

Vitally, though, the officials had admitted that while they had awarded Ipswich a penalty for the Johnson incident, they had not been able to identify the perpetrator live.

That left the incident open to retrospective action in a way that, under FA rules, the Raggett tackle will not be – though in the unlikely event it is deemed in need of an ‘extraordinary exception’, it could in theory be looked at once more.

“The citing can come from anybody, really, in an official capacity,” Hackett explained. “It could be a match assessor or even clubs saying ‘We’re unhappy with this challenge, we’d like you to investigate’.

“The first thing the FA will do – and this is because FIFA do not like is ‘re-reffing’ decisions – is to ascertain whether the referee saw the offence. Where there is a lack of identity, like in the Johnson Ipswich case when no card was issued, the regular commission will investigate that.

“The basis is whether the referee has seen the offence.”

Hackett admits he had not seen the Raggett tackle himself but explained the protocol and reasons that make any retrospective action unlikely.

The only ‘extraordinary exception’ held up as an example on the FA website is a Ben Thatcher challenge that occurred as far back as 2006.

“The referee has seen it, he has acted upon it,” Hackett said on the Raggett challenge. “We’re in a scenario here where it is unlikely the FA will retrospectively review this because the referee has seen the incident. He has given a yellow card and it would be rare of the FA to go to the referee and ask him to consider whether it should be upgraded.

“My view is that it is highly unlikely that the FA will go back to it, given the actions of the referee in giving a yellow card.”

Dele-Bashiru came out of the tackle largely unscathed but it was one that incensed Wednesday both on the field and in the technical area.

“You can all have a look at it,” Owls manager Darren Moore told reporters post-match. “He’s lost control, and the rules deem that when a player leaves the ground with two feet off the ground then it’s deemed uncontrollable. Therefore it’s a red card, and you’ll see that in the video.

“He came into Fizz, and I’m just glad that Fizz has come out of it unscathed because it could have been far more serious than that.”

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