Ex-FIFA official urges FA to punish Burnley star Hannibal Mejbri after Leeds United controversy
Noel Egan has called for the Football Association to act against Burnley star Hannibal Mejbri after his run-in with Leeds United supporters.
The ex-FIFA official believes behaviour like Mejbri’s needs “to be cut out.”
As Mejbri was leaving the field during Burnley’s 1-0 win over Leeds at Elland Road on Saturday (14 September) – a result which has piled pressure on Daniel Farke – he could be seen winding up the Leeds faithful by gesturing toward them (TurfCastPodcast on X, 14 September).
The ex-Manchester United man continued his antics via social media, posting a picture to his personal Instagram account (14 September), with the caption, “Always good to play those type of games, even better when you bring the three points home”.
And Egan – speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News – feels that Mejbri took things a bit too far.
“Absolutely the referees should be intervening in a situation like that,” Egan said.
“I thought that was an example of a player taking things a step too far. Unfortunately, when you have 30,000-plus spectators berating a player of the opposition it is very difficult to identify the exact perpetrators.
“However, they are doing it now when it comes to things like racial slurs. They’re able to focus on individuals and lip-read what is being said these days. When that occurs, fans are getting stadium bans.
“In this situation, Hannibal was absolutely down the throats of the Leeds fans, especially the way he stopped, turned and then gestured toward the crowd. That could have incited 20,000 people to become very upset.
“Therefore, whether the referee saw it or not, I think the Football Association need to deal with this matter because that kind of behaviour has to be cut out.”
Hannibal Mejbri to be punished by the FA after controversial incident v Leeds United?
Whether or not Mejbri did enough for the FA to take action remains to be seen.
However, it is fair to say that winding up thousands of angry Leeds supporters could pose a safety threat.
It is one thing for a player to engage in friendly banter with opposition supporters. However, there was nothing friendly about the incident between Mejbri and the Leeds faithful, and stewards would have no doubt been on alert.
Therefore, the FA will need to take a close look at the incident to ensure no danger arises in the future over similar situations to this one.
In other Leeds United news, a financial boost has been mooted at the club after brand-new Red Bull announcements.
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