Arsenal star Max Dowman was sent-off in the shock loss at Fleetwood Town recently - and the Gunners have been unsuccessful in their bid to have his red card overturned

The FA panel couldn't agree on overturning Max Dowman's red card with the Arsenal teenager now having to serve a three-match suspension - with two individuals claiming the referee "was not obviously wrong.”

Dowman was sent-off during Arsenal's shock loss to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup recently - prompting an angry reaction from Mikel Arterta, which the Gunners boss attempted to explain in the days after the incident.

It was one of the first major flashpoints in the teenager's career after he retaliated to a strong challenge from Fleetwood’s Harrison Neal in the final minutes of the game. He kicked out and was then shown a red card by Michael Salisbury.

Arsenal attempted to appeal the decision, pushing for both wrongful dismissal and a “clearly excessive” punishment - but both those arguments were rejected.

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In the FA's written reasons for the decision two of the three members on the panel backed the referee and claimed that Dowman "clearly attempts to forcefully kick out."

The report added: “Max Dowman had the option to step out of this challenge without any reaction but he turned back towards Neal and his forceful attempt at a retaliatory kick gave the referee a decision to make. The majority view was that the attempted retaliation fell into the category of Violent Conduct and the decision was not obviously wrong.”

The panel was comprised of head and former Fulham midfielder Udo Onwere, ex-Blackburn and England winger Stuart Ripley and one-time ref Ray Olivier.

The individual who sided with Dowman said: “The referee had made an obvious error in sending off Max Dowman for interpreting a challenge that, whilst still unacceptable, was better characterised as adopting an aggressive attitude. To the mind of the minority there was no clear action that could be said to be one of excessive force or brutality and therefore no violent conduct.”

Despite there being scope for disagreement among the panel it was agreed that the standard three-game ban was justifiable.

The report added: “The Commission members were unanimous as to whether the claim for clearly excessive ought to succeed. The Commission did not consider Dowman’s age being a relevant factor in their deliberations. Taking everything into consideration did not see any factors that would make this incident ‘truly exceptional’ to the extent that the standard punishment ought to be disapplied.”