Arsenal FC: Can Gabriel be retrospectively banned for headbutt on Erling Haaland?

Arsenal defender Gabriel avoided a straight red card against Manchester City on Sunday in a potentially decisive referee decision in the Premier League title race.

Gabriel and Haaland have clashed previously, including when the striker bounced a football off the defender’s head when celebrating a goal, but on Sunday it turned more vicious.

Amid the melee, Gabriel had ripped Haaland’s undershirt, which required replacing after the striker had finished celebrating.

Shortly afterwards, the pair faced off again, forehead to forehead, but this time Gabriel moved to headbutt his opponent, who remained unmoved.

A headbutt is typically considered violent conduct, which results in a straight red card and an automatic three-game ban.

However, referee Anthony Taylor instead showed both players a yellow card, and VAR did not intervene to suggest upgrading to a red for Gabriel.

But is Gabriel out of the woods yet?

No. The Football Association (FA) can only retrospectively punish a player if an incident was missed by all on-field officials and VAR.

Because the incident was spotted by the match official, in addition to being reviewed by VAR, the on-field decision is final.

In short, the FA cannot re-referee a match.

There have been examples where a ban has been extended upon review. Aleksandar Mitrovic, then of Fulham, was sent off in 2023 for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh. His ban was then extended to eight games upon review.

That was considered an exceptional circumstance, a bar Gabriel’s headbutt would not meet.