Ivanovic escapes punishment after clash with McCarthy

Branislav Ivanovic will not face any action from the Football Association following his altercation with Ireland’s James McCarthy in Chelsea’s win against Everton on Wednesday night. Both clubs have been charged with failing to control their players.

The Chelsea defender appeared to aim a headbutt at McCarthy in the 86th minute after a melee involving several players. However, the FA’s retrospective punishment panel found that the incident was not worthy of a dismissal.

Instead, both clubs have been charged with “failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour”, which is likely to see them both fined.

On Ivanovic, a statement from the governing body said: “In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by the FA to review it and advise what, if any, action they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

“For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the panel did not believe the conduct was worthy of a dismissal.”

Guardian Service