Connect with us

Manchester United

Blow for Manchester United: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to serve three-match ban

Swede striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, will miss Manchester United’s next three domestic games after he accepted his Football Association charge for violent conduct.

Ibrahimovic has been one of the top performers for United this season and has scored 26 goals in all competitions.

The FA had charged both Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings for separate incidents that took place during Manchester United’s Premier League clash last Saturday.

The Bournemouth defender was seen stamping on Ibrahimovic’s head shortly before the half-time. Soon after, Ibra’s right elbow caught Mings on the side of the face when the duo jumped to meet a cross.

TV replays showed that both were bookable offences, but the players escaped punishment at the time as the referee, Kevin Friend, failed to spot them.

However, a retrospective decision was made by a panel of three former elite officials. They felt that both the players deserved to be sent off for their acts and charges were brought on Monday.

Ibrahimovic said that he respects the decision of the FA, but at the same time has denied that he had any malicious intent of harming the player.

“I respect every decision,” he said, as quoted by the Guardian. “I am not here to attack anybody. My purpose was not to do that. The game is hard.”

As a result of the ban, the Swede striker will be suspended for Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea and the Premier League fixtures with Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion.

The ban, however, applies only to domestic games, which means the 35-year-old is free to play in European competitions. He will be available for both legs of United’s Europa League clash with Rostov.

Meanwhile, Mings could be hit with an even longer suspension, after the FA suggested that the standard three-match ban would be clearly insufficient for him.

Latest News

Topics