Hazard charged by FA over ballboy clash
442 Staff - Friday 25 January 2013, 16:45
Chelsea
midfielder Eden Hazard was charged with violent conduct by the FA on
Friday after this week's bizarre clash with a ballboy who prevented him
from retrieving the ball.
The
Belgian international was sent off in Wednesday's League Cup semi-final
second leg at Swansea City after kicking the teenager while trying to
get the ball as the ballboy laid on top of it. Both individuals
subsequently apologised.
Hazard
received an automatic three-match ban for his 78th-minute red card but
could now face a longer suspension. He has until Tuesday to respond to
the charge.
The game ended
in a 0-0 draw, sending Swansea through to next month's Wembley final
against fourth-tier Bradford City 2-0 on aggregate.
"It
is alleged that Hazard's behaviour in relation to a Swansea City
ballboy... constituted violent conduct whereby the standard punishment
that would otherwise apply was clearly insufficient," the FA said in a
statement.
Hazard has
received plenty of sympathy from Premier League managers and players
who have criticised 17-year-old ballboy Charlie Morgan for time-wasting.
While
the FA's statement did not directly condemn Morgan, it did say it
wanted to "remind all clubs of their responsibilities in ensuring
ballboys and other personnel around the pitch act in an appropriate
manner at all times".
Queens
Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp was among those to defend Hazard
who has said he never intended to kick the ballboy and thought he had
made contact with the ball rather than him.
"He hasn't kicked the boy, he toe-poked the ball under the boy's body," Redknapp told a news conference on Friday.
"Why
is the kid lying on the ball in the first place? Imagine the
frustration, you're the player trying to get to a cup final and there's
this kid behaving like an idiot lying on the ball, won't give the ball
back.
"He didn't kick the
kid, he kicked the ball underneath him and I think the whole thing got
blown out of all proportion. I can think of a lot of players who would
have kicked a bit harder than what he kicked."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had a similar view.
"Ballboys are there to get the ball quickly back to the players and into the game, they are not there to waste time," he said.
"Hazard
is not a violent player, he wanted to get the ball back as quickly as
possible. In my opinion he went in a little bit too strongly but I
don't think he wanted to hurt the boy, he just wanted to get the ball
back."