After furious protests, Haaland escapes punishment – ManCity not

Erling Haaland no longer has to fear sanctions from the English Football Association as of Monday night, despite having gathered some attention-grabbing arguments. The tumultuous events occurred after Manchester City’s 3-3 draw against Tottenham on Sunday.

Haaland, the goal guarantee for Manchester City, stood out as particularly enraged among the players who approached referee Simon Hooper just before and after the final whistle. In the dying minutes of the game, as Tottenham secured another equalizer, Hooper had blown the whistle for a foul on Haaland, preventing Jack Grealish, perfectly set up by the Norwegian, from advancing alone towards the guests’ penalty area. Interestingly, Hooper had initially signaled his intention to play advantage.

Haaland later posted this scene on the short messaging service, X, captioning it with “Wtf.” Nevertheless, the yellow card shown to Haaland on the field remains his sole punishment. According to English media reports, the three letters were not interpreted as an accusation of bias or an attack on Hooper’s integrity.

On the other hand, the FA charged ManCity because they failed to control their players. According to Rule E20.1, clubs must ensure that no one from the squad behaves “improperly, insulting, violent, intimidating, offensive, indecent, humiliating, or provocative.” The reigning triple champion has until Thursday to appeal against the charge.

A likely outcome could be a fine, similar to the one ManCity had to pay in the previous season after a heated 3-1 away victory against FC Arsenal, amounting to approximately €87,000. On Wednesday Pep Guardiola’s team faces Aston Villa in a clash between fourth and third place, aiming to avoid another point drop after three consecutive league draws.

Image Source

Jacek Stanislawek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons