By Keith Hackett

12th Dec, 2022 | 12:40pm

Chelsea news: Ex-Fifa official issues ban claim as 'bizarre' Mason Mount footage emerges

The referee should not have had to rely on VAR to award England a penalty for Theo Hernandez’s challenge on Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount in their 2-1 loss to France in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday (10 December).

That is the view of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider as he also claimed it was the right decision to not send Hernandez off.

As shown on the highlights on ITV’s YouTube channel, Hernandez pushed the back of his opponent as he tried to control a ball over the top from Jude Bellingham.

Referee Wilton Sampaio, whose performance was intensely criticised, allowed play to carry on before he was ordered to review his decision on the pitchside monitor.

He then pointed to the spot and showed Hernandez a yellow card despite calls from Bellingham and other England players to send him off.

A red card would have seen him banned for France’s semi-final game with Morocco on Wednesday (14 December).

“The referee didn’t give this penalty kick, that was amazing to me,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.

“This was an easy foul and he had to rely on VAR, it’s bizarre.

“It wasn’t a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity, it didn’t fulfil that criteria. For me, that was the right one.”

Harry Kane missed the resulting penalty kick by skying it over the crossbar and England crashed out as they failed to find an equaliser.

England’s next game is a crucial European Championship qualifier with Italy in March 2023.

In other news, a former Tottenham manager is “pushing for the Chelsea job” amid a new Graham Potter concern.