Bartel defends MRP call to clear Selwood

AFL match review panel member Jimmy Bartel has defended the group's decision to clear Geelong's Joel Selwood over an apparent eye-gouging incident with Adelaide youngster Riley Knight.

Selwood and Knight got in a scrap late in the third quarter of last Friday's blockbuster at Adelaide Oval, won by the Crows to cement their spot at the top of the ladder.

With Knight pinning Selwood on the ground the Cats skipper used his arms to push the Crows midfielder off.

A split second of the footage - after Adelaide's Brad Crouch (No.2) obscures the view but before he turns around to watch the scrap - shows Selwood's hands on Knight's face.

But Bartel said there was no need to charge the Geelong midfielder.

"We looked at it from every angle and it was fine," Bartel told RSN radio.

It is the second eye-gouging incident of the season following a ban for St Kilda's Jimmy Webster earlier this month.

Webster was suspended for two games after he was found guilty of an incident with Fremantle's Nick Suban.