Manchester City No.9 Erling Haaland has avoided punishment for his clash with Simon Hooper.
That is according to the Telegraph.
So, how did Erling Haaland escape from this situation? Let’s take a look…
Why Haaland will not be punished
Well, there were fears that the Norway international would – at least – be banned for one game and also fined £100,000.
That suggestion came amid comparisons to a similar incident involving Virgil van Dijk in August – the Dutchman breached FA Rule E3.1 when abusing John Brooks at Newcastle.
Haaland not only screamed in the face of Hooper after the 41-year-old awarded Manchester City a freekick, rather than play advantage and let Jack Grealish race clear through on goal.
The Norwegian also posted footage of the incident on X (previously known as Twitter) along with the caption “WTF” – which of course means what the ____.
Alfie Haaland also posted the word “terrible” in response to his son’s upload.
FA Rule E3.1 states: “A Participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.”
According to the Telegraph, Haaland’s actions on the pitch, and on social media, did not breach this rule, so the 23-year-old has escaped without punishment.
Manchester City have still been punished
While Haaland has managed to escape unpunished, Manchester City have still been hit with a breach of FA Rule E20 for a failure to control their players, who angrily surrounded Hooper after his 94th minute mistake.
While rules are rules, we believe that is very harsh based on the ludicrous nature of the decision – which Gary Lineker could only put down to Hooper getting mixed up with shirt colours.
Ruben Dias – however – was praised for his response by Ally McCoist.
As a result of the FA charge, Manchester City are only looking at a fine rather than any sporting sanctions such as points deductions or behind closed doors fixtures, which is perhaps the best possible outcome to Sunday’s chaotic finale.
