No ban for Adebayor

Well, not as such anyway as he was handed a two game suspended ban, in addition to a £25,000 fine, with the FA saying:

“In reaching its decision, the Commission took into account his (Adebayor’s) admission of the charge, public apology and the extremely provocative nature of the abuse he received.

“However, the Commission also stated that players have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a proper manner and that such celebrations are unacceptable and have the potential to cause a serious public order incident.”

Following the incident, my view was that he should receive a one-game ban for his celebration following the goal and as I wrote yesterday, expected that to be the punishment handed down. On reflection though, perhaps a suspended ban is the right punishment given his apology and no prior transgressions.

This is not to necessarily applaud the FA's decision though. In many ways, this is classic FA - seen to be handing out a punishment and appearing tough, but actually doing very little in reality. What also helped Adebayor of course, was that once the furore and attention on him dimmed a little, the actions of Robin van Persie in the same game, and then both Craig Bellamy and Gary Neville in the derby which illicited no punishment left the FA with little option but to not hand out a punishment that saw Adebayor miss any further playing time on top of the three games he already served.

There was no comment from Adebayor himself following the hearing - which perhaps does nothing to dispel the feeling that FA disciplinary committees function mainly with the assistance of a blindfold, pin and piece of paper - but Mark Hughes echoed most fans thoughts:

"There has been a lot said and written about Emmanuel's goal celebration. We are just glad to put it all behind us now," Mark Hughes, the City manager, said. "Manu was in great form before his suspension and having him available again is a huge boost to us."

We should now see Adebayor return to the side for the game at Aston Villa on Monday night, and the focus I'm sure will be well and truly focused on him should he find the net.

No FA charge for Bellamy

The FA today announced that referee Martin Atkinson confirmed that he would not have sent Bellamy off had he seen the incident with the fan at the time.

This means Bellamy is free for selection for tomorrow’s Carling Cup tie at home to Fulham and Monday evening’s Premier League fixture at home to West Ham United.

Bellamy will be contacted by The FA and warned as to his future conduct.

>>mcfc.co.uk

The more I think about this decision, the more I am surprised by it.

Perhaps in the aftermath of the derby, the incident was lost a little in the emotion and how the game finished. There would surely have been a greater focus had the game fizzled out to a 0-0 draw.

There was likely to be an amount of provocation from the guy who got onto the pitch and we don't know precisely what happened or was said leading up to it. In addition, the emotions of a dramatic end to the match would have been racing around.

The cold facts though are that Bellamy struck a fan in the face. That cannot be right any which way you look at it. The club were always going to defend Bellamy, and rightly or wrongly, no club would take a moral stance by handing out their own punishment when the prospect of no action by the FA was a possibility.

It does set a dangerous precedent though in relation to future incidents.

By definition, the FA are also deeming this to be a less serious transgression than the conduct of Emmanuel Adebayor following his goal against Arsenal. Take the two incidents in isolation and you cannot say Adebayor's was a more serious, dangerous and 'improper' offence.

You'd hope not, but maybe the furore over the injury time at the end of the game helped sway the decision?

Adebayor charged

The FA has announced Emmanuel Adebayor will face charges of violent conduct and improper conduct:

The Football Association today issued two charges against Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor following Saturday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester City and Arsenal.

Under the fast-track disciplinary process, Adebayor has been charged with violent conduct following an incident with Robin van Persie, which resulted in the Arsenal player receiving facial injuries.

Referee Mark Clattenburg has advised The FA that he did not see this incident, but has confirmed that had he done so, he would have sent Adebayor off for violent conduct. The player has until 6pm on Wednesday evening to respond to the charge.

Adebayor has also been charged with improper conduct following his actions when turning and running the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal supporters after scoring.

At the very least Adebayor will now face a three-game ban relating to the incident with van Persie, and my hunch would be an additional game for his actions following his goal. However it does appear that the improper conduct charge will not be heard this week.

Clearly an appeal will be launched - and we will have confirmation shortly no doubt - but it almost certainly means Adebayor will miss the next three games at least.

Wright-Phillips banned for three games

The Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has been suspended for three league games after being found guilty of violent conduct by the Football Association, the club have announced.

The 27-year-old was charged after an incident that saw Stoke's Rory Delap sent off during City's 1–0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium on 31 January. The referee Martin Atkinson did not see all of the altercation but, after watching video footage, informed the FA he would have shown Wright-Phillips a red card for violent conduct had he spotted the incident.

Wright-Phillips will therefore miss City's next three Premier League matches – all away from home – at Portsmouth on Saturday, against Liverpool on 22 February and at West Ham on 1 March. He will, however, be available for the two-legged Uefa Cup last-32 encounter with FC Copenhagen later this month.

>>guardian.co.uk

Not a surprise really, and inevitable once he had been charged retrospectively with violent conduct, which brings with it a three game suspension.

To the letter of the law there is no defending Wright-Phillips as it is plain for all to see he kicked out at Delap, yet on the very same weekend, other (more) high profile incidents went unpunished.

Looking at the games he will miss, they do look to be three important ones and his presence in the side will be sorely missed.

Wright-Phillips cleared to play

SHAUN Wright-Phillips has been cleared to play for Manchester City against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Wright-Phillips was expected to miss the Premier League encounter at Eastlands after being charged with violent conduct by the Football Association following his retaliatory strike at
Rory Delap at Stoke on Saturday.

However, the FA have granted City an extension to the normal deadline for responding to the charge, which ran out this evening.

>>MEN.

It doesn't mean he is off the hook however, and could still face up to a three match suspension as a result of the initial charge stemming from the incident with Rory Delap.