Monday 3 December 2018 09:51, UK
Referee David McNamara has withdrawn his appeal against a three-week suspension for using a game of rock, paper, scissors in place of a coin toss.
McNamara used the game before the Women's Super League match between Manchester City and Reading in October after leaving his coin in the dressing room.
The Football Association handed McNamara a 21-day suspension for 'not acting in the best interests of the game' and the official initially chose to appeal the ban.
However, Ref Support UK announced on social media that McNamara has now decided to drop his appeal.
"We can confirm that Dave McNamara has retracted his appeal of the 21-day suspension issued to him by The FA Referees Department," a tweet from Ref Support UK read.
"This will not change our opinion that the 21-day suspension was disproportionate for an isolated event."
The FA had previously released a statement confirming the ban saying: "The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from Monday 26th November, after accepting a charge of 'not acting in the best interests of the game.
"This follows an incident in the WSL match between Manchester City and Reading on Friday 26th October when he failed to determine which team would kick off the match by the toss of a coin, as required by the Laws of the game.
"McNamara will return to duty from Monday, December 17th."
