Ex-Fifa referee demands retrospective action for ‘outrageous cheat’ Trezeguet as Aston Villa footage analysed
Keith Hackett has called for the FA to retrospectively punish Trezeguet for “outrageous cheating” as Aston Villa were beaten 2-1 by Brentford yesterday (2 January).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee delivered his verdict after analysing the footage of Trezeguet’s dive in the closing stages in west London.
The Aston Villa winger was making his first appearance since suffering a serious knee injury against Liverpool at Anfield in April 2020.
He was introduced with 10 minutes to go against Brentford but made little impact on the game with his most noticeable moment coming deep into injury time.
Trezeguet brought the ball into the penalty area before going down clutching his face despite there being no contact from Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos.
Under the current system, the FA can not take retrospective action on simulation but Hackett has suggested that should be changed and the Trezeguet incident is a prime example of why.
He said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “If there is ever a case for post-match action by the FA, that’s it.
“That’s the most outrageous act of simulation I’ve seen this season. It’s outrageous cheating.”
Trezeguet will now join up with Egypt ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off in Cameroon next week (10 January).
Football Insider revealed last year (29 November) Aston Villa will listen to offers for Trezeguet along with Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi in January and they are planning on offloading two of them.
In other news, West Ham are plotting a raid to sign an Aston Villa attacker who is now available for sale.