Webb: EPL players asked for bookings around Christmas time

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has claimed that top players try to get booked and suspended in the run-up to Christmas, as they look to get time off over the festive season.

Webb established himself as one of the top officials in the game in a career that included his selection to take charge of the 2010 World Cup final, with his claims made on BT Sport set to cause a stir in the game. While he did not mention any names with his contentious comments, it was clear that he feels he has been put in a position to hand out yellow cards to players eager to pick up a ban in the final week of December. When asked if a player had ever asked Webb to give him a yellow card, he offered up this surprising response: “A couple of times around Christmas players will want the time off and they will say a yellow card will suit my purpose,” suggested Webb. “It is not what fans what to hear really. He added that if a player is determined enough to get booked, there is not a lot he can do. The former World Cup final ref said: “As long as they don't do something stupid, maybe just a small holding offence or kicking the ball away and they might get what they want”.
Back in 2009, then-Premier League official Steve Bennett made a similar accusation that players had come to him and asked for bookings so they could get Christmas off. He told an undercover reporter that players went out with the intention to get booked. One player is alleged to have gone into Bennett’s dressing room asking for a booking on the pitch, and another asking to get booked so he didn’t have to play against a specific team.

Source: The Sun