The Football Association will not take action following Sunday’s incident at Anfield, in which Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes seemed to make contact with the referee’s assistant, according to the PA news agency.
In the 81st minute of United’s 7-0 thumping by Liverpool, Fernandes, seemed to shove his hand into the assistant referee’s back.
At the time, no formal action was taken against the Portugal midfielder, and it is now assumed that the FA, which has the authority to take retrospective disciplinary action if a player commits a sending-off offense that is not observed by the match officials, will also take no action.
What Happened?
Martin Cassidy, chief executive of charity Ref Support UK, told the PA news agency he felt Fernandes deserved “at least a five-game ban”, saying: “To get in contact with a match official is a serious offence and should be treated such way.
“I think that would be absolutely appropriate.”
Cassidy added: “Fernandes to me is typical of what seems to be happening in the game, this entitlement behaviour, you can just do what you want.
“His position as captain I think is untenable with his behaviours, and I think if he thinks it’s appropriate for the captain of such an illustrious club as Manchester United to behave in such a manner, then the game’s in a terrible state.”
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Meanwhile, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports: “You don’t want a player to be manhandling a match official, but I would suggest the assistant actually manhandles Fernandes more than he did.
“I think once the official does it first, Fernandes is almost like fly swatting, ‘get out of my way, I want to get on with it’.
What a tackle, what a moment! Fernandes can’t cope 😅pic.twitter.com/5bsQYw0ssO
— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) March 6, 2023
“So whilst I don’t condone it…and I think the referee (Andrew Madley) is in a difficult position, because if he goes across and makes an issue of it, Fernandes is likely to say ‘well, he grabbed hold of me first’. It is difficult.”
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