Ex-Fifa official issues verdict on Richarlison being suspended after Everton controversy twist
Richarlison can expect a fine and a warning after he was charged by the FA for throwing a flare into the Everton crowd during their 1-0 win over Chelsea last month (1 May).
That is the view of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the FA finally decided what to do with Richarlison.
It took them a month to confirm that the 25-year-old had been charged for his actions after he scored the game’s only goal.
He took to Twitter on the day of the charge to share an image of the incident.
“They’ve given him until June 8 to respond to that,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“What they are trying to do is allow time so people can forget, it goes out of their mind’s eye. It loses some of the strength of the argument.
“I lean more into these cases to education rather than punishment. The player has done something instinctively, it was a stupid action.
“I thought he threw it into the crowd, some are saying it was into a safe zone. The FA will want full detail. They will then decide.
“My view is that in this instance it should be a fine and a warning.
“There are no doubts that missile was on a trajectory over the heads of spectators. For me, he’s thrown it back towards the crowd. I’m not into this neutral zone.
“The FA will want to send out a waning against these sorts of flares.
“The heat was in it at the time. They could have said in that week ‘Right you’re fined and suspended’. Now we’re in the close season, so it’s an opportunity to get a message across and not make him a scapegoat.”
In other news, Everton have made a move to sign a big-name forward and £20million will seal the deal.