Aleksandar Mitrovic has been banned for eight games and fined £75,000 for shoving referee Chris Kavanagh — but the FA are still at war with Fulham after announcing they want punishment increased.
The FA feel the length of the ban handed down by the independent regulatory commission is too lenient and plan to appeal.
Mitrovic, 28, pushed Kavanagh during Fulham’s FA Cup meltdown at Manchester United last month, after Willian had been sent off for handling the ball on the line at Old Trafford.
The Serbia striker is currently able to return before the end of the season, having already served one game of the ban last weekend. The FA are now awaiting the commission’s written reasons before officially submitting an appeal in a bid to extend Mitrovic’s ban.
The FA is planning to appeal Aleksandar Mitrovic’s suspension of eight matches and Marco Silva ‘s two-match touchline ban for their furious clash with referee Chris Kavanagh
Mitrovic was sent off for his protests towards Kavanagh during Fulham’s defeat at Man United
Fulham manager Marco Silva has also been handed a two-game touchline ban and £40,000 fine after he was also sent off for his angry reaction in the technical area. The FA also plan to appeal that verdict.
Mitrovic and Silva both announced last week that they had personally apologised to Kavanagh, with Fulham hopeful that this show of contrition would help them. But the matter remains unresolved after the FA announced that they are unhappy with the sanctions. An FA statement on Tuesday read: ‘We note the decision of the independent regulatory commission to sanction Aleksandar Mitrovic and Marco Silva. Our current intention is to appeal both sanctions, however we will await the written reasons before confirming our final position.’
This is not the first time that the FA have disagreed with the commission. They previously contested an 18-month ban imposed on former Crawley boss John Yems, who was suspended until June 2024 following Sportsmail’s revelations that he used racist language against his own players. The FA had been pushing for a two-year ban and said they ‘fundamentally disagreed’ with the commission’s findings that this was not a case of ‘conscious racism’.
That situation is still unresolved, FA insiders said last night.
Fulham were already concerned that they would not receive a fair trial, given the uproar that followed their FA Cup loss. This latest twist will not go down well in the boardroom as they feel they have been unfairly targeted.
The FA claimed the standard three-game suspension for Mitrovic was ‘clearly insufficient’.
Silva was also given his marching orders on the day for reacting furiously on the touchline
The FA is opposing the verdict of its independent panel, just as it did after they concluded disgraced former Crawley boss John Yems was ‘not a conscious racist’ in January
Mitrovic has since volunteered to accept a club fine over the altercation with Kavanagh
Silva insists he would have no problem with Kavanagh overseeing another Fulham game
The striker tried to fight that charge but was ultimately handed an additional three games by the commission.
They added another two games and £75,000 fine for ‘improper, abusive, insulting and threatening’ behaviour after being sent off by Kavanagh. Mitrovic has already missed one game for Fulham — Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth — so has seven games remaining unless the FA are successful in extending his ban.
Silva admitted his charges of ‘abusive and insulting’ behaviour towards the officials, but denied throwing a water bottle in the direction of assistant referee Scott Ledger. The commission found him guilty of that outstanding charge, imposing a two-game touchline ban and £20,000 fine. They added another £20,000 fine for ‘improper’ comments made in his post-match press conference. Fulham have also been fined £40,000 for failing to ensure their ‘players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion’.