The Daily Mail have revealed that all Premier League managers have been warned that they will face touchline bans as the FA attempts to crack down on dissent directed at match officials.
The conduct of the managers is now under the microscope after Mikel Arteta’s comments following his side’s defeat at St James’ Park earlier this month, with the Arsenal boss labelling the decision to award Anthony Gordon’s goal as ’embarrassing’ and a ‘disgrace’ (Sky Sports).
The Gunners released a statement backing their manager and calling for the PMGOL to ‘urgently address the standard of officiating’ in the Premier League, and the Spanish coach was subsequently charged with misconduct last week (Guardian).
FA issue warning to managers about dissent
The Mail have now revealed that the FA and the EFL now plan to clamp down on players and managers showing decent to the officials by introducing tougher sanctions.
It is explained that at the start of the season, the FA had already lowered the threshold for managers to receive yellow cards during the game, and they now plan on policing behaviour after matches.
It is explained that the Premier League and the EFL were informed at a meeting with the FA and PMGOL this week that managers who show dissent would face touchline bans while bigger fines would be handed to their clubs.
Spurs Web Opinion
This is the right move and it is high time managers are forced to show some dignity after matches. Statements like the one from Arteta a few weeks ago only serve to rile up fans more, who respond by abusing match officials.
While one can have complaints about the standard of refereeing (although I do feel the bulk of that is confirmation bias and tribalism), there is no excuse to abuse and disrespect officials.
Thankfully, this is not something Spurs need to worry about as Postecoglou is always measured in his post-match interviews and does not discuss referring decisions too often.