Tuesday April 4, 2023 – Aleksandar Mitrovic has been handed an eight-game ban after pushing referee Chris Kavanagh in Fulham’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester United on March 19.
The Serbia striker served the first game of his suspension in Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth and will now miss Fulham’s next seven top-flight matches.
Mitrovic initially received a standard three-match ban for a red card, but that has been extended by three games for violent conduct towards a match official and another two for using language that was “improper, abusive, insulting and threatening”.
The 28-year-old admitted the latter offence, which also came with a £75,000 fine, but unsuccessfully disputed the charge of violent conduct.
Fulham head coach Marco Silva, whose own dismissal alongside that of Willian led to Mitrovic’s angry reaction, was also punished by the independent regulatory commission.
Silva admitted using abusive and insulting words or behaviour towards Kavanagh and the fourth official but denied throwing a water bottle towards the assistant referee.
The charge was nevertheless upheld, with a £20,000 fine and another of the same amount coming due to questioning the integrity of the referee during his post-match press conference. He was also hit with a two-game touchline ban.
A further £40,000 penalty was issued against Fulham for failing to control their players.
However, the FA confirmed it plans to appeal against the decisions of the independent regulatory commission for longer bans for both Mitrovic and Silva.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “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.”
Following the loss at Old Trafford and before the decisions of the independent regulatory commission, Mitrovic and Silva issued apologies for their dismissals, revealing they had spoken to Kavanagh and stressed they would accept the punishments handed down against them.
“On a personal level, 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,” Mitrovic said.
Silva added: “Emotions were high at Old Trafford and I should have controlled my own emotions better. It was a very difficult moment, in a match that we had dominated, but I could have handled the situation better. I regret what happened.”
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