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Cast your mind back to the fifteenth minute of the 6-0 victory against Arsenal. Thanks to Andre Schurrle and Samuel Eto'o, Chelsea were up 2-0, and when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hurled himself at an Eden Hazard shot, it became obvious that we were going to be able to inflict a hammering of monumental proportions. Nervous hope had transformed itself into delirious joy, and when Andre Marriner mistakenly sent off Kieran Gibbs for Oxlade-Chamberlain's handball it merely added a dash of farce to what was already a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
But despite the fact that Marriner's mistake had no appreciable impact on the match, it was still extremely embarrassing for the referee and the FA, and so some sort of apology was in order. And so the referee board provides:
Andre is an experienced referee and is obviously disappointed that an error of mistaken identity was made in this case. Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors.
Whilst this was a difficult decision Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player. He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue.
-Source: ESPN.
Personally, I don't really see what Marriner has to apologise for. Surely this is a natural consequence of your whole team deciding to be anonymous.
