Fulham head coach Marco Silva has been charged with misconduct over his post-match press conference comments that were critical of referee Chris Kavanagh after the FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester United.
An FA statement released this afternoon reads:
“Fulham’s Marco Silva has been charged with misconduct for comments that he made in a press conference after the FA Cup tie against Manchester United on 19 March. It’s alleged that his comments constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match official, and/or bring the game into disrepute. The manager has until Wednesday 29 March to provide his response”.
Silva, who was sent from the sidelines during Fulham’s 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford, referenced Kavanagh’s refereeing of Fulham’s reverse at West Ham United, where the official gave a controversial penalty and allowed two further Hammers’ goals, scored by Gianluca Scamacca and Miguel Antonio, to stand despite clear instances of handball. Kavanagh also gave a goal for Preston North End against Fulham last season when Ched Evans had handled the ball.
The Portuguese boss said during the press conference:
“It’s difficult for us to understand. Chris [Kavanagh] was in a game we played away at West Ham where we lost with two clear handballs. We received the apology because of the mistakes. The last [FA Cup] game [against] Leeds in the FA Cup it was him again. And for a game that is the quarter-finals it’s him again — it’s difficult to understand. Of course we respect that he’s a top referee in this country, I accept that. But unfortunately for us, with us it’s been really unhappy this season.”
Silva, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Fulham already face charges around the unruly scenes that saw the Whites receive three red cards in forty seconds after Kavanagh reversed his decision – having consulted a pitch-side monitor – to not award a penalty. It is believed that the club will be requesting a personal hearing for themselves, Silva and Mitrovic in respect of all of these disciplinary charges.
The BBC are reporting pretty similar to your quote regarding this apart from omitting
“”We received the apology because of the mistakes””
two different ways of reporting the same quote !!!.
It’s sad but know fact in this world that being honest can get you in more trouble than anything . FA have a lot to answer for , that does not mean Silva and Mitro were not wrong. But big mistakes by Ref and FA will get away Scot free
I think the TV companies have a part in all of this. If they didn’t thrust a microphone in the managers mouth immediately after the game, he might have chance to cool off a bit. Instead, they grab them while the adrenalin is still high and guess what? It might be good telly for them but it always makes me squirm whoever the manager