
Daily Cannon
·15 September 2025
Fan footage catches ref giving Arsenal star advice

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Yahoo sportsDaily Cannon
·15 September 2025
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Fan footage shared on social media following Arsenal’s weekend match against Nottingham Forest caught one of the assistant referees giving some advice to Riccardo Calafiori during a break in play.
The two initially started a conversation, before the assistant gave a visual demonstration of what to do and what not to do to avoid a foul throw.
For Calafiori’s part, he seemed receptive to the feedback, giving a couple of demonstrations in return. The discussion appeared to be light-hearted and constructive.
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Photo via Arsenal.com
There have been plenty of negative incidents involving match officials and Arsenal in recent seasons, but this is a good example of officiating done right.
It’s fair to say that Calafiori had gone pretty close to crossing the line into foul-throw territory in the Nottingham Forest match, but instead of immediately penalising the first hint of a transgression, the officials made sure to give the player a warning and advice on how to alter his technique.
As the match progressed, there were no further examples of Calafiori risking a foul throw, so the strategy worked out for everyone.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
It’s also good to see Calafiori taking the advice in his stride, which will serve him well both in his throw-in technique and in staying on the good side of the match officials.