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Zlatan banned for three games after admitting violent conduct

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have to sit out Manchester United's FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea after accepting a charge of violent conduct, England's Football Association has said.

Zlatan banned for three games after admitting violent conduct
Tyrone Mings and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA via AP

As well as Monday's FA Cup clash, the 35-year-old Ibrahimovic – United's leading scorer this season with 26 goals – will also miss the Premier League matches against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion.

Both Ibrahimovic and Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings were charged on Monday following two incidents in Saturday's bad-tempered 1-1 Premier League draw.

Mings appeared to deliberately stamp on Ibrahimovic's head as he jumped over him late in the first half at Old Trafford and the Swede seemed to retaliate moments later by elbowing the defender in the head.

Ibrahimovic has now accepted the charge of violent conduct and an immediate three-match ban.

Both players would ordinarily have been facing three-game bans but the FA took the unusual step of saying on Monday that in the case of Mings the standard punishment was “clearly insufficient”.

Bournemouth had until 6pm GMT Tuesday to decide whether to contest the charge against Mings.

On Saturday match referee Kevin Friend spoke to Ibrahimovic, who had already been booked, following his elbow on Mings, but neither player was cautioned.

As a result, the incident was referred to a panel of three former elite referees, who unanimously concluded that both offences merited red cards.

Ibrahimovic denied elbowing Mings on purpose, saying after the game: “I jump up and jump high and he jumps into my elbow. It is not my intention to hurt someone.”

Mings, whose conduct was widely criticized by a number of former players turned football pundits, said he had not intentionally stamped on Ibrahimovic's head.

“I would never do that. That's not in my game,” he said. “Hard and fair is how I like to tackle, but off-the-ball stuff like that isn't part of my game.”

At the very least, Mings now stands to miss league matches against West Ham, Swansea and Southampton.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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