Leeds United hit with FA charge after rule breach in 3-2 loss v Chelsea
Leeds United have been charged by the Football Association for the reaction of their players to Chelsea’s second penalty on Saturday (11 December).
Chelsea were awarded two penalties at Stamford Bridge in their 3-2 win over the Whites, with the second coming after an alleged Mateusz Klich foul on Antonio Rudiger.
This led to chaotic scenes and the Whites have now been charged by the governing body (14 December).
As shared by FA Spokesperson on Twitter, the official spokesperson of The Football Association, Leeds have been charged with a breach of FA Rule E20.1.
The FA wrote: “It is alleged that Leeds United FC failed to ensure tis players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion when they surrounded the match referee in the 93rd minute and the club has until Thursday to provide [16/11/21] a response.”
That’s the rules
Leeds players may have felt the penalty awarded against Klich was harsh on Saturday, a sentiment shared by many in the media afterwards.
But the rules are very clear – players are not allowed to crowd around the referee in a manner that may intimidate the official.
Illan Meslier was booked for his protests after the penalty was given, before Jorginho stepped up to score and secure all three points for the home side.
There have been prior examples of clubs being charged after surrounding the referee, such as Chelsea in May 2018 [Sky Sports].
On the back of that, big changes were made on how officials and governing bodies would react to that.
Leeds have just been charged at this point and there is no further information about what punishment might be meted out to them, but a sizeable fine could be in order.
In other Leeds United news, Jamie O’Hara blasted this ‘stupid’ Whites star live on-air but Ally McCoist leapt to his defence.