Manchester United have been fined £65,000 by the FA for surrounding the referee in the chaotic moments during the FA Cup win over Fulham last month.
Earlier this week, Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was slapped with an eight-game ban after being charged with violent and improper conduct in the 3-1 win for United. He was shown a straight red card by Chris Kavanagh after he grabbed the referee by the arm while protesting the quick-fire sending-off of Willian and Marco Silva.
There was chaos on the pitch at Old Trafford in the 71st minute when Willian handballed to stop Jadon Sancho’s shot from going in. The Fulham winger was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity before Mitrovic and Silva were also given their marching orders for protesting too vociferously.
But the FA has now determined that United were also at fault during the chaotic moments in the second half. The club have now admitted a charge of failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and they were therefore fined by a regulatory commission.
The punishment means that United have now been fined a total of £202,000 by the FA this season. They have now overtaken Arsenal at the top of the list of the most fined clubs this season.
Fifteen of the Premier League ’s 20 clubs have been fined at least once this season. Newcastle, Brentford, Leicester, Bournemouth and Southampton are the only top-flight sides not to have been punished by the FA this campaign.
United have received several other fines this season. In October they were hit with an £82,000 fine after admitting two breaches of FA rules during Premier League matches during that month. In February, they got another £55,000 fine for an incident vs Crystal Palace.
They have now been fined £65,000 because the FA increases the amount every time in an effort to stamp out abuse against referees.
United’s punishment for the Fulham incident pales in comparison to the ones handed out by the FA to Fulham. Mitrovic was fined £75,000 after admitting that his behaviour and language was improper, abusive, insulting and threatening, while Silva was given a two-match ban and a £20,000 fine.
Mitrovic said in a statement: "On a personal level, I regret my actions that led to me being sent off. I allowed my frustration to get the better of me, and how I reacted was wrong.
"I was trying to get the referee's attention, but I appreciate that I should not have put my hands on him and I understand why he showed me a red card, my first in-game sending off for Fulham and my first since the 2015-16 season.
"I have accepted the three-match ban for my red card, I have spoken to Chris Kavanagh to apologise, and I have volunteered to accept a club fine.”
