Liam Kelly handed six-game ban over ball boy incident
Saturday 18 February 2017 00:21, UK
Liam Kelly has been handed a six-game ban for pushing over a Plymouth ball boy during Leyton Orient’s 3-2 win on Tuesday night.
The Orient captain was found guilty of violent conduct at an independent hearing on Friday night and will serve an immediate suspension.
Kelly, who was booked for an earlier foul during the match, escaped sanction from the match referee for the incident but was charged after Plymouth called on the FA to act.
The 27-year-old denied the charge and the claim that the incident merited further punishment than the standard punishment, but the FA found him guilty and ruled the standard three-game ban was "insufficient".
"Leyton Orient's Liam Kelly has been suspended for six matches with immediate effect following the game at Plymouth Argyle on 14 February 2017," said the FA in a statement.
"It was alleged he committed an act of violent conduct in the 86th minute which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video, contrary to FA Rule E3.
"Furthermore, The FA claimed that the standard punishment for the offence would be clearly insufficient.
"The player denied both the charge and the claim, however, following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Friday evening , the case in respect of the charge of violent conduct was found proven.
"Furthermore, the Regulatory Commission considered the standard penalty to be insufficient and ordered he serve an additional three match suspension, resulting in six matches in total."
