The Football Association has charged both Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse in the spitting row.
The incident took place in the last seven minutes of the first half during United’s 1-0 victory at St James’ Park on Wednesday. The Northern Irishman has clearly denied his involvement in the statement released by the player earlier today.
On the other hand, the Magpies striker issued an apology. However, the FA has charged both players in the incident and they have time till Friday 6pm GMT to respond to the charges.
“Newcastle United’s Papiss Cisse and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans have both been charged by The FA following their game on Wednesday 4 March 2015,” the FA released a statement on their official website.
“The charges are in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the game the two players spat at each other.
“The incidents were not seen by the match officials but caught on video. Both players have until 6pm on Friday 6 March 2015 to respond to the charge.
“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 the footage independently of each other.
“They will then 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 decision by the panel was unanimous in respect of both players,” it added.
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