The BBC reports that the Crystal Palace and former Arsenal striker Ruesha Littlejohn is possibly facing a longer ban than the standard three-game ban for violent conduct.
While it makes sense in a way to punish the Scottish player, who had a six-game ban in 2012 for social media posting, you have to ask why that kind of extra punishment did not happen in previous cases of leg breaking.
I think it is interesting to see that only Littlejohn got sent-off and no one else got booked, when there were six players involved in the action.
At the start, Blanchard and McLoughlin get tangled up, the referee blows for a foul, there is some kicking on the floor, and Tierney comes in. Littlejohn arrives on the scene, Tierney is pushing Blanchard to the floor. Littlejohn pushes Cain, Cain reacts and pushes Littlejohn back, while Tierney and Blanchard are wrestling.
Littlejohn gets her hand around Cain’s neck and then simultaneously gets tripped by McLoughlin, while being pushed by her teammate Nolan. This double action leads to the wrestling movement.
Getting your arm around your opponent’s neck is well worth the red card. That is normal. But the other players involved got away with it.
Why the referee did not book the other five players involved in the melee is not logical. The FA should also charge both teams for failing to control their players.
If we look at what happened to Aaron Ramsey, Eduardo and Petr Cech, was there any extended ban for breaking legs or fracturing their skull? The player who injured Petr Cech did not even get banned, despite the seriousness of the offense and injury, while it was a mere three-game ban for the attacks on Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey.
Where is the consistency from the FA? Two players sent Littlejohn flying around, while she had her arm around Cain’s neck leading to that very dangerous action. How different is it from going at full power against an opponent’s leg or head? Why is it ok to badly injure an opponent?
Of course we all know that PGMOL is really lenient on fouling. Regarding the law 12 application on yellow and red cards, even with VAR, the referees do not apply the law properly and do not give enough cards.
The two organisations work together and do not do enough to protect the physical integrity of their players.