Fans spot a bizarre breach of the rules from Said Benrahma against Liverpool, he shouldn't have been allowed to play
Fans have spotted Said Benrahma's bizarre rule breach against Liverpool on Wednesday night.
The Algerian winger was brought on in the 61st minute of the 1-0 defeat at Anfield, replacing Pablo Fornals on the left-hand side.
Benrahma was typically exciting as ever, looking to make things happen for West Ham as they trailed to Darwin Nunez's first home goal for Liverpool.
However, the former Brentford man became a huge discussion point - not for his work with the ball, but his lack of shin pads.
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During his 30 minute cameo, Benrahma appeared to take off his shin pads and playing without them.
We've seen the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jack Grealish play with kids' shin pads and so sometimes you never notice they are there.
But pictures from Amazon Prime showed Benrahma genuinely had no shin pads in his socks. He appeared to take the protective guards off in the 75th minute and commentary made a point of mentioning Benrahma having no shin pads on later on.
It attracted plenty of reaction on social media, with fans in disbelief over how no action was taken.
One fan wrote: "BENRAHMA TOOK OFF HIS SHIN PADS 20 GAME MATCH BAN IMMEDIATELY."
Another said: "Why isn’t Benrahma wearing shin pads???? Isn’t it against the football law?"
A third commented: "Did Benrahma take his shin pads out? @premierleague @FA surely illegal and also dangerous to play without?"
Shin pads are of course a compulsory piece of equipment in football at all levels, as clearly stated in the football laws.
In Law 4.2, titled "compulsory equipment" on the IFAB website, it explains: "Shin guards – these must be made of a suitable material to provide reasonable protection and covered by the socks".
The law adds: "A player whose footwear or shinguard is lost accidentally must replace it as soon as possible and no later than when the ball next goes out of play; if before doing so the player plays the ball and/or scores a goal, the goal is awarded."
Josh Lawless