So Fulham’s striker, Aleksandar Mitrovic, is expecting to get a lengthy ban for manhandling an official, but Man United captain, Bruno Fernandes, gets away scot free for the same offence?
Talk about double standards!
However, that’s exactly what we’ve seen from the Football Association this week, and these decisions, which seem to always favour big clubs, need to be stopped.
Of course, Mitrovic was absolutely in the wrong during his side’s FA Cup tie at Old Trafford, and he will have to take his medicine. The BBC report that the FA suggest a standard ban is ‘clearly insufficient’ in this instance.
There can be no excuse for the threatening manner in which he approached the match official, Chris Kavanagh, who was well within his rights to brandish a straight red card, even if that was like a red rag to a bull, Mitrovic eventually having to be pulled away by team-mates.
In what was Man United’s worst result for decades, the Red Devils were recently humbled 7-0 at arch rivals, Liverpool.
During that game, United captain, Fernandes, consistently lost his head, culminating with a push on one of the officials, Adam Nunn, as the ball had gone out for a throw in.
On that occasion, not even a yellow card was produced by the man in the middle and, importantly, no retrospective action was taken.
How is that even possible?
Even if one takes the view that if it may not have been in the referees report, the FA are powerless to intervene, everyone watching the game saw what happened live on TV.
Ref Support UK even said at the time that he should be handed a five-game ban.
There needs to be some sort of consistency from the powers that be in order that the guidelines are kept to and followed, with no room for manoeuvre.
If decisions like the two examples above continue to go the way of the bigger teams in the division, it makes a mockery of the league’s integrity and that of its officials.
Why wasn’t Bruno treated the same as Mitrovic? Well apart from actually touching the asst Ref Bruno did not get in his face and make the official back off in fear. Bruno should have been yellow carded at the time and if Mitrovic had walked away when carded there wouldn’t be so much of a big deal about it now. But he didn’t. He went after the ref threatening him and being extremely aggressive. That’s why his ban should be extended.
As a referee I can only agree full heartedly with this reply.
Mitrovic could be interpreted as an assault as is very lucky not to be dealt with by the courts never mind the FA.
Fernandes is a petulant child and a yellow card should have been given. His seemed more a coming together rather than a all out attack !
These ABU’s trying to conflate the two incidents are clearly struggling. Fernandes’ action was nowhere near in the same category as Mitrovic’s aggression. He’d completely lost his head, perhaps inspired by his Manager, who’d behaved ridiculously throughout toward the fourth official. The writer of this article should climb off his high horse and seek some perspective.
I vote for Colin to replace Jason as a writer on this site.. his commentary was succinct/ accurate/ unemotional & unbiased.
Poor article written by a clear ABU….
Completely different situations.
Fenandes case was not intentional, he was under anxiety and trying to see if his club can score a goal, in the other hand, mitrovic, acted intentional and nearly beating up the ref. If not for the intervention of other players. So the Case are not the same.