Hackett rules out ref communication on Keane red card

Referees chief Keith Hackett has confirmed Phil Dowd did not take advice from the fourth official before sending off Robbie Keane in a recent Premier League match.

Keane was shown a straight red card for his tackle on Birmingham midfielder Fabrice Muamba during Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat on December 2.

Television pictures showed Dowd talking into his microphone before brandishing the red card, sparking suggestions he had been consulting with Uriah Rennie on the touchline.

But Hackett has told tonight’s edition of Football Matters on Setanta Sport that Dowd was just giving Rennie advance notice of the dismissal.

He said: “I think one of my referees was accused of being influenced by Uriah Rennie on the dismissal of a player. I can assure you quite categorically that that wasn’t the case.

“I think the referee was perhaps trying to be a little clever, if I look at it in detail.

“Because he knows a player is going, he’s worried about the reaction in the technical area so he says ’look, he’s going, be prepared for any outcome in the technical area’.”

Tottenham launched an immediate appeal against Keane’s dismissal but it was rejected by the Football Association who imposed a three-match ban.