FA bosses meet after ref attack
FA bosses are preparing to meet to decide whether to ban the head-butting yob who attacked a referee in Nuneaton.
The Birmingham County Football Association (BCFA) has confirmed that it will convene early next week to decide what punishment to give out to Kieran Kimberley who admitted head-butting official Craig Ward during a Nuneaton and District Sunday League (NDSFL).
The BCFA Discipline Commission will sit to go through the case and papers and then reach a decision based on FA guidelines.
A BCFA spokesperson said: “Now the criminal investigation and court case has been concluded, we are now in a position to go forward and ‘hear’ the case.”
The news comes after the Referees Association has confirmed that it has started talks with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in regards to what it believes to be a ‘unduly lenient’ sentence given to Kimberley.
On Monday, Kimberley aged 28 of Brackendale Drive, was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 12 months, with a rehabilitation activity for 15 days after admitting head butting referee Craig Ward during a Sunday league game in Nuneaton.
Paul Field, chair of the Referees Association said:“We have a number of legal minds in the league and in relation to what came out from Leamington, compared to a similar case in Yorkshire, our members believe that the sentence was unduly lenient.”
He said that they are not only having discussions with the CPS, but also the Ministry of Justice to try and toughen powers to protect officials.
“We will be speaking to Parliamentarians and people we know in the House of Lords, we want to endeavour to get it sorted,” he said.
Mr Field also said that NDSFL needs to clean-up its act too, branding it ‘one of the worst’.