Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is suspended for EIGHT games for shoving referee Chris Kavanagh and boss Marco Silva gets two games…but FA wants LONGER suspensions and plans to appeal
- Mitrovic and Silva were given the suspensions by an independent commission
- The Fulham duo were sent off last month after a clash with referee Chris Kavanagh
- The FA confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that it intends to appeal the sanctions
The FA plans to appeal Aleksandar Mitrovic’s eight-match suspension and Marco Silva’s two-match ban for their furious clash with referee Chris Kavanagh at Old Trafford last month and is calling for longer penalties.
Fulham’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester United on 19 March saw Willian, Mitrovic and Silva all get their marching orders from Kavanagh in what culminated in an insane 40-second period at Old Trafford.
After Willian was shown a red card for blocking a ball on the line with his hand, all hell broke loose when Mitrovic and Silva angrily protested the decision.
Mitrovic, who was himself sent off for putting Kavanagh in his hands and shoving the referee, sat out the first game of his suspension this weekend as Fulham lost 2-1 to relegation-threatened Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium. He is now set to watch a further seven appearances from the stands following the FA’s decision on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Silva admitted to using abusive words and gestures towards the fourth official ahead of his sending-off at Old Trafford and has subsequently been banned from the dugout ahead of Fulham’s league matches against West Ham and Everton.
The FA has handed out further sanctions to Aleksandar Mitrovic (left) and Marco Silva (right) after the pair were sent off last month for clashing with referee Chris Kavanagh in the FA Cup
The manager, who denied throwing a water bottle at the assistant referee, was also fined £20,000.
Mitrovic and Silva’s suspensions and fines were handed out by an independent commission, but on Tuesday the FA announced its plans to appeal the chosen sanctions, seemingly indicating they are not long enough.
“We take note of the decision of the Independent Regulatory Commission to sanction Aleksandar Mitrovic and Marco Silva,” the FA said in a statement.
“Our current intention is to appeal both sanctions, but we will await written reasons before confirming our final position.”
The FA has historically been unafraid to challenge its own independent panel, with English football’s governing body publicly opposing their ruling in January that former Crawley Town manager John Yems had been disgraced and had no ‘conscious racist’ was in January.
Within the written statement of reasons, the independent regulatory commission said Yems is not “a conscious racist”, a statement that sparked outrage in the football community given the nature of the abuse against his players at Crawley, which was discovered by Sportsmail last April.
The FA therefore disagreed with the resolution of their own independent panel and began seeking legal advice pending a possible appeal. The organization also felt that the 18-month ban handed out to Yems was too lenient.