Referee Mike Jones has informed the FA that he spotted the incident that angered Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish during Aston Villa’s FA Cup defeat at Arsenal on Sunday and decided Gunners captain Robin van Persie should not face any sanction for an elbow on Carlos Cuellar.

Alex McLeish later said: “I thought he put an elbow to his face. It’s dangerous.” And RVP, Arsenal’s goal scoring talisman, was facing a three-match suspension had he been called in front of the football authorities.

Such incidents now seem to feature in every big English game, and with the aid of slow-motion it is fair to say the Arsenal striker will not be the last big name to go through trial by TV.

Incredibly, despite this footage being available for post-match arbitration, we are still seemingly no closer to goal-line technology.

Footage of Robin van Persie’s alleged elbow on Carlos Cuellar is on this video.

Related link: Robin van Persie performance vs Aston Villa.