HANDS up who thinks the Football Association (FA) and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) got it spectacularly wrong this week? 

Not just in sending David Luiz off, but in refusing to admit they were wrong by failing to overturn Arsenal’s appeal to have the Brazilian’s red card rescinded.

I was in the Wolves press box at Molineux on Tuesday evening to watch the events unfold for this newspaper. 

After an opening 45 minutes in which it was no exaggeration to say Arsenal could and should have been 4-0 up, Arsenal were coasting towards half-time 1-0 ahead, through Nicolas Pepe’s excellent strike. 

With the interval moments away Wolves’ Daniel Podense played the ball through to Willian Jose. As he came across Luiz in the box he fell. Craig Pawson, with the help of Jon Moss on VAR, awarded a spot kick and sent Luiz off. 

While a penalty was the right decision because of Luiz’s and Jose’s coming together, no matter how minimal the contact, the sending off was incorrect. 

Why? Because it was accidental contact. 

How on Earth did referee Pawson fail to remember the line in his own governing body’s rulebook, which is there to protect teams from losing a player to a red card if a penalty has been awarded, if, a genuine attempt to play the ball has been made?

Whatever you think of Luiz, and I’m not and never will be his biggest fan, on this occasion, there was no cynical attempt to bring down the Wolves player. 

He was genuinely attempting to get back on terms with Jose, and it was an accidental foul. When that happens you award a penalty and hand out a yellow card. 

The law was meant to see players sent off after conceding a penalty only if they deliberately foul an opponent to deny a clear scoring opportunity.

Without a win since December 15, Wolves were handed a lifeline when Ruben Neves fired home with aplomb. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side came out for the second half full of vim and vigour and scored a second shortly after the break. 

With the game being turned around in a matter of moments, with Arsenal careering from coasting to chasing, keeper Bernd Leno was then (rightly) sent off, to cap a miserable evening in the west Midlands for Mikel Arteta’s side. 

What occurred can’t be changed — and hopefully the Gunners will learn to put sides to the sword when they have the chance in the future. 

But what could have been changed this week was that the FA should have admitted they were wrong in handing Luiz his red card, and downgraded it to a yellow, thereby avoiding a damaging suspension for the player. 

So what did they do? In light of overturning Jan Bednarek’s sending off against Manchester United following Southampton’s appeal for something similar, they point blank refused to do the same leaving the FA, in their wisdom, to refuse Arsenal’s appeal. 

Which is as laughable as it is utterly wrong. It’s so wrong as to be embarrassing. 

Perhaps there should be a VAR for overturning the results of an incorrect judgement by the FA’s own appeals panel.