Former Premier League defender Curtis Davies stated the choice was an “absolute shame”.
“Kelly goes up for a header, he is gone for the header cleanly. His toes must land on the bottom someplace,” he added on BBC Radio 5 Dwell.
“Sadly, he lands on the participant. There must be a degree of understanding – the place is he meant to place his toes? I perceive Kelly’s frustration.”
Davies’ sentiments had been echoed by soccer journalist Rory Smith, who known as the choice “terrible” and a “shame”.
In the meantime, former Tottenham midfielder Andy Reid felt soccer was “transferring nearer and nearer to being a non-contact sport”.
“There must be contact in soccer and generally folks do get painful ones. It occurs. There’s nothing you are able to do about that. It is a part of the sport,” he stated.
In accordance with Uefa guidelines, any participant despatched off by the referee – whether or not that’s by way of two yellows or a straight purple – is robotically suspended for the subsequent match in European membership competitors.
Nevertheless, in mild of Juventus’ exit from the Champions League, Kelly’s suspension will carry over to subsequent season.
Former Manchester Metropolis defender Nedum Onuoha added: “If I used to be Kelly I would be actually dissatisfied, however with how soccer works, it is at all times going to be a purple.”
However former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock disagreed.
“I do not agree with it as a result of it’s purely unintended. I perceive the yellow card, however not the purple,” he stated.
