[imagesource:fulhamfc]

I don’t know much about football, but I know that an eight-game ban is not the usual.

That’s what Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic was given after aggressively pushing the referee, immediately receiving a straight red card for his actions on the field.

The striker was handed his punishment by the English Football Association (FA) after pushing ref Chris Kavanagh in his team’s bad-tempered FA Cup quarterfinal loss to Manchester United last month.

The FA stated that the standard three-match ban was “clearly insufficient” and is even seeking a longer punishment than the eight-game ban:

Aleksandar Mitrovic has been given an eight-match ban by the FA.

It comes after he pushed referee Chris Kavanagh in Fulham’s FA Cup loss to Manchester United. pic.twitter.com/J0fGZsWpEg

— Akinkunmi Dolapo Sporting Director (@sportingdirecto) April 4, 2023

ESPN has more:

The Serbia international’s dismissal came at the conclusion of a chaotic couple of minutes late in the second half, in which Willian was sent off for conceding a penalty for handling Jadon Sancho’s effort on the goalline before Fulham manager Marco Silva was also shown a red card for remonstrating with officials.

Silva has been charged with multiple misdemeanours, including improper conduct, improper behaviour and abusing match officials.

Official: Aleksandar Mitrović has been given an 8 match ban after his on field incident with the referee during Fulham’s FA Cup matchup with Man Utd. 😳

It comes after he pushed referee Chris Kavanagh in Fulham’s FA Cup loss to Manchester United. pic.twitter.com/9jHN8npNmA

— EPLSL (@EPLSL) April 4, 2023

Meanwhile, Silva is asking for a more lenient approach to be taken with Mitrovic:

“I saw the image and I spoke with Mitro, it is a moment for him to control the emotions,” Silva said following the match. “He pushed the referee, but I did not see that in so bad, bad way like you are saying to me. But I hope the people who are going to decide [do so] with fairness.”

Silva has apologised for his regrettable actions, and so has Mitrovic, per the Guardian:

Mitrovic said: “I regret my actions that led to me being sent off. I allowed my frustration to get the better of me, and how I reacted was wrong. I was trying to get the referee’s attention, but I appreciate that I should not have put my hands on him and I understand why he showed me a red card, my first in-game sending off for Fulham and my first since the 2015-16 season.”

Fulham was leading 1-0 at the time thanks to a Mitrovic goal but went on to lose 3-1 at Old Trafford.

[source:espn]