Babbel faces fine mess

Punishment looms over coach’s comments

WANDERERS boss Markus Babbel is likely to face a fine over comments alleging a conspiracy against his team by referees, after he was hit with a “show cause” notice yesterday morning.

Babbel has until Monday to make a submission over his comments about the late, VAR-led award of a penalty to

Wellington in Western Sydney’s 2-1 defeat on Saturday.

Though Babbel had only just been reprimanded for swearing in a press conference, that is unlikely to have any bearing on his current case, the sanction for which will be based on precedent.

That suggests a fine of around $1500, based on similar cases in the past couple of seasons — though Babbel himself escaped sanction last season for saying FFA would have to be “f ****** blind” not to see that standards of refereeing were below par.

On Saturday Babbel had claimed the Wanderers were playing against 12 men following the club’s 2-1 defeat to

Phoenix. “You can’t tell me this is bad luck,” Babbel said. “This is too often now, too often against us, and there’s something behind it, that’s my opinion. We have to understand that we play not against 11 but against 12 - this is a trend now. I really feel sad for the boys but it is like it is and we have to work harder.”

The penalty for Babbel will be decided by A-League officials once his submission is in, though his case would be heard by a disciplinary tribunal if he appealed against it.

Last year Jets boss Ernie Merrick appealed against a $3000 fine for saying the VAR must have been “asleep”, and had the fine converted to a suspended touchline ban by the A-League’s disciplinary tribunal.

In its judgment, the tribunal argued that a ban was more equitable than a fine, given the disparity in coaches’ earnings even in the A-League.

But an A-League spokesman said that did not affect the penalty it would hand down in the first place, which can be anything from a slap on the wrist to a lengthy ban.