Di Canio Fined and Banned for 11 Games for Pushing Ref
October 25, 1998 - 0:0
SHEFFIELD, England Sheffield Wednesday's Italian striker Paolo di Canio was banned for 11 games and fined 10,000 pounds ($16,920) on Friday for pushing over a referee in an English Premier League game. An English Football Association (FA) disciplinary tribunal imposed an eight-match suspension on top of the automatic three-game ban which Di Canio's sending-off had attracted. The incident occurred in a September 26 league match against Arsenal after a brawl between several players, including Di Canio. The Italian was shown the red card by referee Paul Alcock and reacted by shoving the official hard in the chest.
Alcock sprawled to the ground as Di Canio stalked off. As soon as the referee clambered to his feet he dismissed Arsenal's Martin Keown as well and booked two other players. Di Canio, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct, said after the hearing: I am very, very sorry for what happened. I had a fair hearing, for which I am grateful.
Sheffield Wednesday, who had themselves suspended the Italian after the incident, said they would not appeal. We are satisfied with the outcome, said club director Howard Culley. We believe that the ban is as heavy a penalty as the FA could reasonably have imposed on Polo. However, the club accepts that ban. The club are now looking forward to having him back playing with us before the end of 1998. The FA committee reached their verdict after a hearing at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane which lasted more than two hours.
FA spokesman David Davies read out the following statement: Paolo di Canio apologized for what had happened. He said he had made a big and a bad mistake. He'd lost his head for two or three seconds and it would never happen again. The media suggestion that Di Canio believed the referee had fallen deliberately was vehemently denied on his behalf.
He said he had acted out-of-character. He had never intended to harm the referee and he had brought shame on himself. Davies added: The commission stressed they have not come to their conclusion purely so that the penalty should act as a deterrent. They considered what happened more serious than normal on-field offences. But the commission was unanimous that an urgent recommendation should go to the FA's disciplinary committee.
This will ask that it should be made clear to all concerned that even stronger penalties should be imposed in future on any player who man-handles a match official. Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers' Association, who was present at the hearing, said: We need to send out a message to players about avoiding such contact and also a message for the security of referees.
We are prepared to work with the FA to send out that message. The ban will keep Di Canio, who has fallen foul of the English soccer authorities before, out of action until the home game against Leicester City on December 26. Di Canio, a former Italian under-21 player, had moved to Sheffield from Celtic in Scotland where he fell out with the club over his contract and refused to attend a pre-season training camp.
(Reuter)
Alcock sprawled to the ground as Di Canio stalked off. As soon as the referee clambered to his feet he dismissed Arsenal's Martin Keown as well and booked two other players. Di Canio, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct, said after the hearing: I am very, very sorry for what happened. I had a fair hearing, for which I am grateful.
Sheffield Wednesday, who had themselves suspended the Italian after the incident, said they would not appeal. We are satisfied with the outcome, said club director Howard Culley. We believe that the ban is as heavy a penalty as the FA could reasonably have imposed on Polo. However, the club accepts that ban. The club are now looking forward to having him back playing with us before the end of 1998. The FA committee reached their verdict after a hearing at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane which lasted more than two hours.
FA spokesman David Davies read out the following statement: Paolo di Canio apologized for what had happened. He said he had made a big and a bad mistake. He'd lost his head for two or three seconds and it would never happen again. The media suggestion that Di Canio believed the referee had fallen deliberately was vehemently denied on his behalf.
He said he had acted out-of-character. He had never intended to harm the referee and he had brought shame on himself. Davies added: The commission stressed they have not come to their conclusion purely so that the penalty should act as a deterrent. They considered what happened more serious than normal on-field offences. But the commission was unanimous that an urgent recommendation should go to the FA's disciplinary committee.
This will ask that it should be made clear to all concerned that even stronger penalties should be imposed in future on any player who man-handles a match official. Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers' Association, who was present at the hearing, said: We need to send out a message to players about avoiding such contact and also a message for the security of referees.
We are prepared to work with the FA to send out that message. The ban will keep Di Canio, who has fallen foul of the English soccer authorities before, out of action until the home game against Leicester City on December 26. Di Canio, a former Italian under-21 player, had moved to Sheffield from Celtic in Scotland where he fell out with the club over his contract and refused to attend a pre-season training camp.
(Reuter)