Marco Silva went on a rant about the referee following Fulham’s defeat away to Newcastle United, inviting an FA charge far more than Mikel Arteta did.
Marco Silva’s Fulham side travelled to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle United on Saturday, in a game effectively decided by a first-half red card.
Raul Jimenez was sent off for Fulham at 0-0, and Newcastle subsequently ran away with the game in the second half, ending up 3-0 winners.
Speaking after the match, Fulham boss Silva accused the referee of lacking experience and showing bias towards the home side.
“Until the 21st minute [in] all the moments, the referee didn’t give us one foul,” Silva said. “For Newcastle, it was a free-kick every time.
“The Premier League should decide [upon] a referee with the experience and ability to handle pressure. This is the best example of a referee who doesn’t have the experience to handle the pressure.
“Any doubt, any foul, he didn’t give one. Even the elbow in the face of Raul.”
As for the actual red card Jimenez received, Silva argued it should have been a yellow card, and the VAR officials were looking for a decision to give.
“He jumped into the player but you don’t see something serious, something wrong with the other player,” Silva continued. “A yellow is right. VAR is trying to find all these moments to give. To justify their job? I don’t know.”
Whether or not Silva has a point on the specific red-card incident, it’s very clear he should face an FA charge for his comments.
Mikel Arteta was charged by the FA following his own post-Newcastle comments, but an independent commission found that the Arsenal boss did not insult the match officials, bring the game into disrepute, or make comments detrimental to the game.
By contrast, Silva’s comments seem to fulfil many of the criteria to constitute a breach. The following behaviours are referenced in FA manuals as prohibited:
- implication of bias on the part of a match official
- questioning the integrity of a match official
- using personally offensive comments about a match official
- using abusive or insulting comments about a match official
- making comments which are detrimental to the game
Silva’s comments very clearly imply bias from the referee. They clearly question the integrity of the VAR officials. The comments about the referee’s lack of experience could easily be construed as insulting. That’s at least three of the above five points.
After the FA unsuccessfully made the argument that Arteta’s high profile justified a charge against him, it will be very interesting to see how they treat a comparatively lower-profile manager like Silva.