Sky Sports have dismissed claims PGMOL chief Howard Webb played a role in the decision to red card William Saliba during Arsenal's Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.

Gunners centre-back Saliba was dismissed at the Vitality Stadium after tangling with Evanilson and bringing the Cherries striker down as he went to race through on goal.

Referee Robert Jones initially showed the Frenchman a yellow but was advised to consult the pitchside monitor by the Video Assistant Referee and proceeded to upgrade the yellow to a red.

Arsenal felt aggrieved by the decision, which came on the half-hour mark, as the incident occurred just inside their half but former Gunners forward Theo Walcott and Sky Sports Jamie Redknapp both said the correct decision was made. But many Arsenal fans also questioned if former elite referee Webb had actually influenced the decision from the stands as the PGMOL chief was seen texting and talking on his phone as VAR checked the incident.

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and sports presenter Richard Keys were even among those questioning if Webb played a role in the sending off.

"Was Howard Webb involved in the decision making of the red card of Saliba?" Carragher asked in a now-deleted social media post. Keys, meanwhile, said: "Who was Howard Webb texting? And why?"

But after Bournemouth's 2-0 win, Sky Sports presenter David Jones revealed that Webb was merely listening to the officials communicate but had "no input" into the actual decision.

"You might have seen on social media, there have been one or two people speculating about what Howard Webb was up to in the crowd [during the VAR check]," Jones said. "He's got that earpiece in, he's got his phone out. What we understand he's doing is he's listening to a match feed of the VAR officials and their communication with the on-field officials, just as we do as broadcasters.

"But he has no input and has no ability to talk to the officials who are actually making the decisions. Just to clear that up for you."

Redknapp rubbishes Saliba conspiracy theories Redknapp also dismissed the conspiracy theories, saying: "Howard Webb is not trying to communicate with the officials from the stands.

"He's watching the game. Anyone who thinks that, to have the audacity, or ego, to think 'I am going to influence the game', we're talking nonsense now to even question that.

"He is at the game and listening to the audio. But he can't turn round to the referee. We've got VAR and everyone there looking at it why would he even dream to get involved?'"

On Saliba's dismissal, Redknapp added: "There's absolutely no doubt if he had no put his arms on him, he [William Saliba] would have got there first.

"He is one of the quickest players, one of the quickest defenders. He would have at least had enough pace to get help.

"Your natural inclination is to panic, grab him and he's thinking 'what have I done?' Then Gabriel went to the referee and there's a few guilty signs.

"It's definitely a foul. Ben White you could argue, can he get back in time, but my guess is no. It was definitely denying a goalscoring opportunity."

Meanwhile, the Premier League also explained why VAR upgraded Saliba's yellow card to a red, commenting on X: "The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a challenge on Evanilson.

"The VAR deemed that Saliba denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card."

Despite being down to 10 men for the third time this season, Arsenal managed to hold out until two goals in the last 20 minutes from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert sealed the win for the home side.

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