VERY SAD Erling Haaland NEWS Has been announced this Evening by FIFA board on post-match bust-up after Totheham-Manchester City clash with Referee after calling him a “Dog”
According to FA regulations, if Erling Haaland, the striker for Manchester City, is prosecuted and found guilty of violating social media policies, a monetary fine would be the most likely punishment.
Haaland appeared to be questioning referee Simon Hooper’s decision to stop a late City counterattack against Tottenham on X, only moments after the striker was fouled and the official signalled to go on. Haaland got up to put Jack Grealish through for a goal, but to the ire of both Haaland and his teammates, Hooper blew his whistle.
Following his furious on-field outburst, which persisted until full time, Haaland uploaded a video of the incident to his X (formerly Twitter) account with the message, “wtf [what the f—].” Alfie, his father, swiftly responded, calling it “terrible.”
Haaland might be in hot water with the FA for violating their social media policies, specifically Rule E3.1, which addresses: “Comments which are improper, which bring the game into disrepute, which are threatening, abusive, indecent, or insulting,” in addition to “Comments about match officials which imply bias, attack the officials’ integrity, or which are personally offensive in nature.”
Within three working days of the FA being aware of Haaland’s post, they will either request written observations or file a charge, if they choose to look into it. Haaland would then have three business days to offer any observations that were needed.
After three working days had passed, the FA would choose whether to file any disciplinary charges, and Haaland would have another three working days to respond. The hearing before the Regulatory Commission would then happen in ten working days after the FA received the response.
Given the bank holidays around Christmas and New Year, that may involve any ruling up to January 5, at which point Haaland would probably be entitled to an appeal.
Haaland could not claim that the post was written by a third party because the FA’s guidelines on the regulations specify that players are held accountable for anything they post on their accounts. However, removing the message wouldn’t protect him from possible consequences either.
The FA clarifies that there are no predetermined penalties for remarks made on social media. However, it also state that “financial penalties are the most usual form of sanction for these kind of cases,” which may protect Haaland from any prospective suspension in the event that the FA chooses to look into, prosecute, and discipline the forward.
We’ve reached out to the FA for a response.
