During Sunday's match between Everton and Newcastle, there was a moment of fairly significant controversy. During a set piece, Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse was seen intentionally and violently swinging his elbow at Everton fullback Seamus Coleman's head. Everton were, rightfully, quite angry that the referee didn't punish Cisse for his infraction, but now the FA have stepped in today, charging Cisse with violent conduct on the pitch and handing him a three-match suspension.
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse given 3-match ban for violent conduct
The referee may not have noticed Cisse’s elbow swing on Sunday, but the FA did and they were not amused.
Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
Frankly, it was an incident that should have been dealt with on the pitch, with the referee giving Cisse a red card. How it was missed was a mystery, because Cisse didn’t even bother to hide what he was doing. He actually threw a couple of small elbows before connecting with the one that hurt Coleman. Somehow Craig Pawson missed it, creating just the latest “referee not paying enough attention to the scrum” issue -- something Martin “I’m going to pull your shirt now” Skrtel can attest to.
Cisse's three missed matches will have a bit of an adverse effect on Newcastle. Their next match, against Burnley on New Year's Day, is one that he can probably afford to miss. After that, though, is an FA Cup tie away to Leicester City, and a Premier League match away to Chelsea on January 10th. Newcastle can probably beat Leicester without Cisse, but in a straight elimination match with the "magic of the Cup" in play, you want every advantage you can get, and given the lack of decent reserves Newcastle has, losing him is a blow.
See More:
