One Liverpool fan is convinced there is a hidden reason why Mateo Kovacic avoided what appeared to be a blatant red card against Arsenal during Sunday afternoon’s Premier League blockbuster at the Emirates Stadium.
The Croatian midfielder, who was named in Pep Guardiola’s starting lineup to play Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing Gunners, lined up alongside Rico Lewis.
And although both sides went into the half-time break level at 0-0, Arsenal will feel incredibly hard done by.
Kovacic lunged in on Martin Odegaard and clearly took out the Norweigan’s standing leg. Given the fact the City midfielder executed his challenge from behind, fans, both home and away, would have been expecting referee Michael Oliver to brandish a straight red card.
However, Olivier, to most fans’ surprise, opted against showing a red card and instead awarded City’s number eight with just a yellow.
Remarkably, Kovacic, just moments later, unleashed another poorly timed tackle, this time on Declan Rice, and once again escaped serious punishment.
And one Liverpool fan believes the reason Oliver opted against sending Kovacic off was due to his connections to Saudi Arabia’s football federation.
According to a recent report from the Telegraph, Oliver has been one official that Saudi’s sporting decision-makers are desperate to lure to the Middle East as they seek to make the Pro League one of the most popular competitions in the world.
Given Saudi Arabia’s ownership connections with Manchester City, coupled with their desire to lure Oliver away from the Premier League, there are concerns, as highlighted by this fan on X, that a potential conflict of interest has occurred during today’s Premier League showdown between two of the Premier League’s title favourites.
