Stoke City have confirmed that a booking given to Erik Pieters against Leicester City on Saturday has been transferred to Bruno Martins Indi because of a case of mistaken identity.
The caution was issued by referee Craig Pawson, who managed to confuse Pieters, who is white, with Martins Indi, who is black. Pawson wrongly thought it was Pieters, the former PSV Eindhoven left back, who committed a foul on Danny Simpson in the 68th minute of the 2-2 draw.
The referee has been under significant scrutiny in recent days, having sent off Jamie Vardy for a two-footed tackle during the same match. Leicester appealed against that sending off yesterday but the striker’s three-match ban was upheld by the FA this afternoon.
Last Wednesday, Pawson was criticised heavily for failing to dismiss Marcos Rojo, the Manchester United defender, for another two-footed challenge on Wilfried Zaha, the Crystal Palace forward.
Pieters was critical of Pawson’s decision to book him, saying after Saturday’s game: “It was not a yellow for me, I wasn’t even close to this guy.
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“I don’t know what they’re going to do with that but it was not a yellow card for me.”
He added with sarcasm: “There’s a big difference between me and Bruno. Same colour, same hair, I think it’s difficult to see.”