Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel has welcomed the Football Association’s decision not to charge Manchester City midfielder Yaya
Toure with violent conduct.
Toure appeared to kick out at Van Wolfswinkel in Saturday’s 0-0 draw. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had said Toure should be suspended but the FA ruled on Monday there was no need for disciplinary action. “Good to see Toure not getting suspended,” Van Wolfswinkel tweeted. “Players like him belong on the pitch! “Things happen on the pitch. But we all enjoy watching him play. So get on with it and enjoy the football. That’s what it’s all about.”
Referee Jon Moss did not see the incident during the Premier League match at Carrow Road. But under a pilot scheme introduced this season, the FA can take retrospective action on the basis of video evidence if an incident has not been seen by the match officials. The FA asks a three-man panel of former elite referees to review the incident and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time. “For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence,” said an FA statement. “In this instance, the panel were not of the unanimous decision that it was an act of violent conduct.” Speaking prior to the decision, Mourinho, whose side are two points above City at the top of the Premier League, said not suspending Toure would send a message that players “can do what they want”. The FA’s decision came on the same day Cardiff striker Craig Bellamy was charged with violent conduct for a collision with Swansea’s Jonathan de Guzman in Saturday’s south Wales derby. Manchester City, who are without injured midfielder Fernandinho, face Sunderland at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. – BBC Sport
