Preston's Darnell Fisher charged by FA after grabbing opponent's genitals
Darnell Fisher, the Preston North End defender, has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association after appearing to grab the genitals of an opponent, Sheffield Wednesday’s Callum Paterson.
Camera footage showed Fisher twice touching Paterson in the groin area during Saturday’s Championship game at Deepdale, a match won 1-0 by Preston in Tony Pulis’s first game in charge of Wednesday.
Both incidents were missed at the time by referee David Webb and his assistants, but were caught on camera during the match.
“Preston North End’s Darnell Fisher has been charged following an EFL Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday,” an official FA tweet said.
“It is alleged that an incident during the 62nd minute, which was not seen by the match officials at the time but caught on camera, constitutes a breach of FA Rule E3. The defender has until 24
November to provide a response to the charge.”
Preston said in a club statement: “The club acknowledges the charge and will respond before 6pm on Tuesday, as requested by the FA.” Neither Fisher nor Paterson have commented on the incident, with the Preston defender deactivating his Twitter account.
Earlier this year, the England rugby union international Joe Marler was banned for 10 weeks for a low grab on the Wales captain, Alun Wyn Jones, in a Six Nations match. In Super League, St Helens’ Tommy Makinson was suspended for five matches in August for grabbing the testicles of Castleford’s Liam Watts.
Last week the Catalans Dragons forward Joel Tomkins was banned for eight matches after being found guilty of making “inappropriate contact” with the backside of Leeds full-back Richie Myler.
Preston won the match after a goal from Tom Barkhuizen, while Josh Windass was sent off for Wednesday.