FA make official decision on Newcastle United incident & Fulham rule break after Arsenal U-turn

Fulham manager Marco Silva has admitted to improper conduct and been fined £80,000 for breaching FA rules following defeat to Newcastle United.

Fulham saw Raul Jimenez shown an early straight red card following a foul on Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff and a VAR check back in December at St James' Park. The Magpies went on to win the game 3-0 with goals from Lewis Miley, Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn.

After the match, Silva described the performance of referee Sam Barrott as 'really strange'. It was the referee's first top flight match at St James' Park.

"Until the 21st minute of the game, we didn't have one foul," Silva told Sky Sports at the time. All the tackles and challenges on the pitch, for us, was to keep going and, for Newcastle, was always freekicks. Really strange.

"I think the pressure on the game with a not experienced referee was difficult for him. He was not capable to handle the pressure, in my opinion, from a game like this one at St James' Park. That is clear for me."

The FA investigation highlights similar comments made by Silva to various outlets as well as his post-match press conference in which he appeared to question the integrity of the match officials.

An FA statement confirming Silva's punishment read: "Fulham FC’s manager Marco Silva has been fined £80,000 and warned as to his future conduct for a breach of FA Rule E3 following their Premier League game against Newcastle United FC on Saturday 16 December 2023.    "Mr Silva admitted that his comments in the post-match media interviews following the fixture, constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias and/or question the integrity of, and/or are insulting towards the match official (Referee) and/or the Video Assistant Referee, and/or bring the game into disrepute. The sanction was imposed by an independent Regulatory Commission."

Silva isn’t the first manager to be charged by the FA for his comments following a clash with the Magpies this season. Mikel Arteta was also charged following Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at St James' Park but the Spaniard subsequently had that charge dropped after an appeal by the Gunners.