Erling Haaland bust-up: Keith Hackett expects formal FA charge
Keith Hackett believes Man City and Brighton could be charged for failing to conduct their players following Erling Haaland’s bust-up with Paul Jan van Hecke on Saturday (9 November).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-FIFA and Premier League official admitted that in his day a referee would “pile in and separate,” but times have now changed.
City suffered their fourth consecutive defeat against the Seagulls, and frustration boiled over as Haaland and Van Hecke got into a shoving match after a tussle inside the box.
Haaland initially pulled down the defender when he was being marked in the Brighton box, which led to a tussle as other players got involved in the incident.
The City striker was ultimately shown a yellow card and no further action was taken, but both clubs could end up being punished in the aftermath.
Keith Hackett believes Man City and Brighton could both get charged for the incident
Hackett told Football Insider, “In my day, the practice was to pile in and separate – but then I was six foot one.
“Now, it’s more a case of the referee not getting involved.
“We had an assistant come in recently to separate the players and ended up with a detatched retina.
“Since then the general view is to stay out and monitor, get the perpetrator and any retaliator, so the referee did the right thing.
“But the interesting bit is what he actually puts in his report post-match.
“There is a chance that when you have this type of instance, the FA steps in and charges the teams for a failure to control their players.
“So, what is the referee going to report?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if both teams are charged with failing to control their players on that one.”
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