Why FA banned 'brutal' Sergio Aguero after Winston Reid incident
Wednesday 14 September 2016 18:56, UK
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was banned for three games after a "brutal" incident that "clearly endangered the safety" of West Ham's Winston Reid, an independent commission ruled.
Aguero missed last weekend's Manchester derby and is banned for this month's domestic games against Bournemouth and Swansea after the clash in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on August 28.
The incident was not seen by referee Andre Marriner, or other match officials, but caught on video.
In written reasons published by the Football Association, the three-man commission, chaired by Stuart Ripley, agreed that Aguero had "thrown out his left arm in an aggressive manner that was excessive in force and brutal, which clearly endangered the safety of Mr Reid.
"Indeed, even though the point of Mr Aguero's elbow did not connect with Mr Reid, his flailing forearm did and this contact between forearm and throat/neck clearly hurt Mr Reid."
The commission, which also included Brian Talbot and Alan Knight noted "the clenched fist of Mr Aguero as he threw his left elbow towards Mr Reid, the upward angle of the movement and the force of the movement."
In an email to the commission, referee Marriner stated he "… did not see the full extent of the incident and in particular where Sergio Aguero's hand had finished up in the challenge, which clearly catches Winston Reid in the throat region."
Manchester City, who contested the charge, claimed Aguero's actions did not constitute violent conduct and urged the independent regulatory commission to consider a lower punishment.
But, after considering the arguments put forward by the club, the commission unanimously felt that the video evidence before them was conclusive.
"The commission could not see anything "truly exceptional" about the incident." said Mr Ripley. "The incident was simply a 'one v one' tussle for the ball, such that is seen many times during any football match, whereby one of the players had used excessive force and brutality against the other."
