Man City fined £120,000 by the FA after Pep Guardiola’s players surrounded referee Simon Hooper during their 3-3 draw against Tottenham

• It came after the FA had charged Man City for ‘failing to control their players’
• Several players surrouned referee Simon Hooper in their 3-3 draw vs Tottenham
• Have you witnessed abuse of referees? Contact [email protected]  

Manchester City have been fined £120,000 by the Football Association after their players had surrounded referee Simon Hooper during their recent 3-3 draw against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium.

The official had made a contentious decision in the 94th minute of the game to call play back after he had initially played advantage. 

With City on the attack, Emerson Royal had appeared to foul Erling Haalaand, with Hooper initially waving play on. Despite the foul, the Norwegian striker was able to play the ball upfield to Jack Grealish who had broken free and was bearing down on goal.  

Hooper subsequently blew his whistle, pulling play back for a free-kick ending City’s hopes of scoring a potential late winner. 

Several of City’s stars, including Haaland were enraged by Hooper’s decision, surrounding the referee to vent their fury at him, with the Norwegian appearing to shout at the official. 

The FA have fined Manchester City £120,000 after their players surrounded a match official

The incident occurred during their recent 3-3 draw against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium

The governing body had initially charged City over the incident, but will now impose a fine on them after City admitted they failed to ensure their players behaved appropriately

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Today, the Football Association announced that they would be imposing a financial penalty on City, writing in a statement: ‘Manchester City FC have been fined £120,000 after their players surrounded a match official at the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 3 December, an FA statement read.

‘Manchester City FC admitted that they failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper way during the 94th minute.

‘An independent Regulatory Commission imposed this sanction following a hearing.’

It came after the the FA had announced on December 4 that the club would be charged for ‘failing to control their players’ and that the case would be heard by an independent panel.

Haaland also published several posts on his social media after the match, venting his frustration at the decision, but was not charged by the governing body for the statements. 

After the match, Pep Guardiola had also sarcastically hit out at fourth official Anthony Taylor when asked whether he had been given an explanation on the controversial decision. 

The Spanish manager replied: ‘No, the master of commander Anthony Taylor knows everything in this business and didn’t tell me anything.’

He added: ‘When you review the image, the referee whistles after saying play on and then after pass comes the whistle. This is what I dont understand.’ 

PGMOL chief howard Webb last week revealed that Hooper had been left ‘devastated’ by the incident and insisted that the referee had just blown up at the wrong time. 

‘It is an officiating mistake and the VAR has no part to play in this,’ Webb said on Match Officials Mic’d Up. 

Speaking on Hooper, he added: ‘For sure he was devastated. He had refereed the game really well for 93 minutes but he knows this is going to be the only talking point really close to the end of the game. 

Haaland took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his frustration at the decision after the match

Mail Sport has launched a campaign to stop the abuse of referees at all levels of the game

Pep Guardiola had sarcastically hit out at fourth official Anthony Taylor after the game  

Grealish was through on goal when referee Hooper called play back for the foul on Haaland

PGMOL chief Howard Webb has admitted Hooper was left ‘devastated’ by the decision

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‘I understand the disappointment that Manchester City felt on this one because it would have been a wonderful advantage. He just formed the opinion to blow just at the wrong time.

‘It looked like he was ready to play advantage. You never heard him shout advantage. I asked him about the arm, he said he didn’t even realise he was doing it in the moment.

‘Disappointing for Simon, he would have loved to have played advantage to him there. I said to him afterwards, “Just hold your hands up”.

‘It’s difficult to be annoyed at a remorseful man, show your disappointment in the moment because he was certainly feeling that at the time. We took the learning from it and hopefully he’ll not do it again.’

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