Spitting actions of United’s Evans branded disgusting by FA panel
THE actions of Manchester United defender Jonny Evans in spitting at Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse were branded disgusting by the Football Association (FA) panel which found him guilty.
Evans and Cisse were both charged after allegedly spitting at each other during Manchester United’s 1-0 Premier League victory over Newcastle at St James’ Park earlier this month, an incident missed by match referee Anthony Taylor.
The Northern Irishman denied spitting at Senegal hitman Cisse and contested the charge but was handed a six-game ban, while the written reasons for Evans’ suspension were released by the FA yesterday.
“The ordinary man in the street will find this action to be simply disgusting,” said the three-man regulatory commission. “It should not be allowed in any walk of life, let alone any football field.”
Cisse accepted the charge and a seven-match ban, one more than his counterpart due to a previous offence earlier in the season, although Evans insisted he did not intend to spit at the Newcastle frontman.
“It is clear that Mr Evans is looking directly and indeed aggressively at Mr Cisse. His lips are ‘pursed’ and he is close to Mr Cisse,” added the report.
“If he was, as alleged to be the case, a person who ‘habitually spits’, then the commission were concerned as to why he did not turn his head away from Mr Cisse when so spitting.
“If that had been a family member or indeed another team member or his manager in front and below him, would he still have carried out the same manoeuvre?
“Mr Evans had (and has) a duty of care, if spitting for whatever reason, not to direct the same in the general direction of an opponent, or indeed anyone else. The video clips clearly show that he failed in his duty of care.”