Mitrović's 8-game ban
3 for the sending off, 3 for violent conduct, 2 for "improper, abusive, insulting, threatening" language.
You probably remember hearing and seeing 2 Fulham players (Willian & Aleksandar Mitrović) as well as the Fulham coach (Marco Silva) all being sent off in a 60-second period in March.
Absolute scenes at Old Trafford…
Willian was sent off for a handball that stopped a clear goal from being scored.
Marco Silva was sent off for deliberately leaving his technical area to show dissent towards a match official.
Mitrović was sent off for putting his hands on a match official with excessive force.
The punishments for Willian and Silva are both pretty straight-forward. But there’s been a lot of speculation about what the punishment will be for Mitro…
Now we know!
The ban will allow Mitrovic to play the final 2 games of the Premier League season.
My take: We all know that referee abuse is driving many grassroots refs out of our game. There’s a worldwide referee shortage that needs to be addressed and enacting zero-tolerance policies for abuse of match officials is one way to make refs feel safer and stay in the game.
While an 8-game ban is substantial, it doesn’t clearly state, “zero-tolerance policy towards referee abuse” in my opinion. Even going with a 10-game ban would have been the far and away better choice because it would have seen him come back in the 2023/24 season.
Far too many grassroots referees know the feeling of a player making inappropriate physical contact. When the nature of that contact is excessive, it’s even worse. It’s something we have to rid the game of once and for all.
I have nothing against Mitro personally. I actually like him as a player and enjoy watching his hard nosed style immensely. He was even in and out of my Fantasy Premier League team this season!
But he did completely lose his head in that moment and for that, he deserves a punishment that makes an example out of him.
P.S. A big welcome our new subscriber Chris, a referee in Kent, England!
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