FA Closes Loophole That Allowed Players To Avoid Charges For Violent Acts

The FA "has closed the disciplinary loophole that saw Chelsea's Fernando Torres escape action despite being caught on video scratching a rival player," according to the PA. Starting Nov. 22, the FA "will be able to charge players even if match officials have seen part of the incident." The new rules will now cover "acts of violent conduct that occur secondarily to a challenge for the ball," and off-the-ball incidents where one or more match officials did see the players coming together, "but the match officials' view was such that none of them had the opportunity to make a decision on an act of misconduct that took place within that coming together." FA Dir of Governance Darren Bailey said, "This enables the FA to consider acts of violent conduct, like an elbow or a stamp, which have occurred after a challenge for the ball or coming together of players" (PA, 11/7).