Headache for Jose as Zlatan is charged
STAR STRIKER FACING BAN FOR MINGS ELBOW
Manchester United’s fears were confirmed yesterday when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was charged with violent conduct by the Fa for elbowing Bournemouth defender tyrone Mings in the face.
United’s talisman and top scorer now faces the threat of a threematch ban that would rule him out of Monday’s Fa cup quarter- final at chelsea as well as the Premier League games against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich albion.
Mings is set to be handed an even tougher punishment after the Fa decided that a similar three-game suspension would be ‘clearly insufficient’ for his stamp on Ibrahimovic that left the swedish star with a cut on the side of his head.
United are likely to be hit harder by the loss of Ibrahimovic, whose 26 goals this season have helped Jose Mourinho’s side to challenge in four competitions. the 35-yearold striker is still available for thursday’s europa League firstleg tie against Fc rostov and will fly out to russia today with the rest of the United squad.
Ibrahimovic must answer the charge by 6pm today. assuming he accepts it, the ban will be triggered automatically.
If he decides to contest it, a three-man independent disciplinary commission will sit before the chelsea match to reach a decision.
Players are not allowed to make personal appearances before the commission in the case of ‘unseen’ incidents such as this, so Ibrahimovic’s absence in russia until Friday would not hold up the process.
he and the club would still be able to submit written evidence to support his case, however.
the veteran striker’s claim that Mings ‘ jumped into my elbow’ shortly before half time of saturday’s 1-1 draw at Old trafford was not shared by the Fa’s governance department when they studied video footage of the incident.
When asked about the possibility of retrospective action after the game at the weekend, Ibrahimovic had said: ‘I respect every decision. I am not here to attack anybody. My purpose was not to do that. the game is hard.’
nor did the Fa accept Mings’ claim that his stamp on Ibrahimovic was unintentional when he tried to hurdle the swede and Wayne rooney as they lay on the floor, concluding that it was an act of violent conduct.
referee Kevin Friend did not book either player at the time — which allows the Fa to consider retrospective action.
after Friend confirmed yesterday that he missed the incidents, a three-man panel of former referees agreed independently that both warranted a straight red card.
however, due to the serious — and unusual — nature of Mings’ offence, the Fa have recommended that the disciplinary commission ban the 23-year-old Bournemouth centre back for more than three games if he is found guilty.
a statement from the governing body read: ‘the Fa has submitted a claim that the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for the misconduct committed by the Bournemouth defender is clearly insufficient.’
It is understood the Fa did not feel the need to prove categorically that Mings deliberately trod on Ibrahimovic, but there was sufficient evidence to suggest that he could have done more to avoid contact with his opponent’s head as he landed.
Bournemouth captain andrew surman will also be suspended for one match after he was shown a second yellow card for shoving Ibrahimovic in the aftermath of the elbowing incident.
It took the referee several minutes before order was restored and play restarted to realise that he had already booked the player.