Celestine Babayaro has escaped punishment for his challenge on Fulham’s Tomasz Radzinski on Saturday after the FA said they could not take any further action over the incident.
Newcastle United had feared Babayaro could be hit with a four-match ban after Cottagers’ boss Chris Coleman urged the FA to punish the Nigerian international for a two-footed challenge he called a “leg-breaker”.
However, referee Alan Wiley confirmed to the FA yesterday that he had seen the incident during the game and had not believed it was worthy of either a booking or sending off.
Under Fifa rules that means the FA are powerless to impose any punishment, even though they have the benefit of television replays to determine just how serious the challenge was.
An FA spokesman said: “Alan Wiley saw the incident during the game and, under Fifa regulations, there is no further action the FA can take.”
