The Football Association has requested that Millwall’s goalkeeper Liam Roberts receive an increased punishment for his challenge on Jean-Philippe Mateta that led to the striker receiving 25 stitches in his left ear.
Roberts was shown a red card for serious foul play eight minutes into Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie, after running outside the area and raising his left boot in a high challenge on the Crystal Palace striker.
The incident was described by the Palace chairman, Steve Parrish, as the “most reckless” he had seen and the FA has used discretionary powers to call for Roberts to earn more than the standard three-match ban.
The governing body said: “The FA claims that in the circumstances the standard punishment for this offence is clearly insufficient. Liam Roberts has until Thursday 6 March to provide a response.”
FA rules allow it to intervene in a matter where a player has been dismissed and it deems the situation “truly exceptional” and the standard punishment “clearly insufficient”. The FA spent the weekend debating the decision before making the request before a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday.
The appeal will be considered by an independent regulatory commission. Millwall fans held a minute’s applause in solidarity with Roberts in Tuesday’s Championship defeat by Bristol City, at the same point when he had been sent off at Selhurst Park.
Millwall have described the challenge by Roberts on Mateta as “unfortunate” and strongly denied the harm was intentional, defending their player after he was the subject of online abuse. The club said “disgraceful suggestions” that Roberts had intended to hurt Mateta had “contributed to the unwarranted character assassination of Liam and fuelled abhorrent online abuse towards him”.
