Fulham’s striker Aleksandar Mitrovic may not play again this season with the Football Association planning to appeal against his eight-match ban for shoving and abusing the referee Chris Kavanagh.
Mitrovic was handed the punishment on Tuesday by an independent commission, which also fined the forward £75,000 for his behaviour during Fulham’s FA Cup defeat at Manchester United last month. Fulham’s manager, Marco Silva, who was also sent off by Kavanagh during an extraordinary spell of three red cards in 40 seconds, received a two-game touchline ban and fines totalling £40,000.
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The FA, however, considers both sanctions too lenient and has confirmed it intends to appeal. Mitrovic has seven matches of the suspension to serve, having started the ban against Bournemouth on Saturday, and with 10 games remaining in Fulham’s campaign, the club’s leading goalscorer could be sidelined until next season should the FA succeed in increasing his punishment.
“Our current intention is to appeal both sanctions,” said an FA statement. “However we will await the written reasons before confirming our final position.”
Mitrovic received a straight red card for pushing Kavanagh as Fulham imploded at Old Trafford. That brought an automatic three-match suspension but the commission imposed an extra three games for violent conduct towards a match official – a charge that Mitrovic had denied – and two for using “improper, abusive, insulting and threatening” language. The Serbia international admitted the latter offence, which also brought the £75,000 fine.
Silva, whose dismissal alongside that of Willian prompted Mitrovic’s furious outburst, admitted using abusive and insulting words or behaviour towards Kavanagh and the fourth official. He denied throwing a water bottle towards the assistant referee. That charge was upheld, however, and resulted in a £20,000 fine as well as the touchline ban. Silva received another £20,000 fine for questioning the integrity of the referee during his post-match press conference. A further £40,000 penalty was issued against Fulham for failing to control their players.
Mitrovic, who apologised for his actions 10 days after the game, has scored 12 goals for Fulham this season.
