EPL chief says McManaman should have been charged

LONDON (AFP) –

Newcastle United‘s Massadio Haidara is stretchered off the pitch after being injured in a tackle by Wigan Athletic‘s Callum McManaman at The DW Stadium in Wigan, on March 17, 2013.

English Premier League chief executive Richard Scuadmore insisted Thursday the Football Association should have charged Wigan’s Callum McManaman for a ‘horror’ tackle on Newcastle’s Massadio Haidara.

McManaman, who was making his first league start, caught Haidara on the left knee with his studs after careering into a tackle midway through the first half of an English Premier League match at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

The French full-back, 20, had to be carried off on a stretcher, but referee Mark Halsey did not punish 21-year-old McManaman for the challenge.

And the FA added it would not be taking retrospective disciplinary action so as to avoid re-refereeing incidents seen by match officials.

However, the FA’s rules do allow it to take retrospective action regarding “exceptional” incidents and Scudamore believes this was a case where they should have exercised their discretion.

“I don’t think anybody in the Premier League, perhaps bar Wigan, would have complained had they decided this was exceptional,” he said.

“That’s where the Premier League is on this, I don’t think the rules need changing, I don’t think the line needs moving.

“If they have the ability to deal with an exceptional incident, it looked to most of us that was an exceptional incident.

“What we don’t want is re-refereeing, everyone is agreed on that. I think the current system works and no one would have criticised the FA if they had decided that was exceptional.”

The FA’s rules limit retrospective action to off-the-ball incidents unseen by match officials unless they are exceptional circumstances and the governing body said this had been agreed with the leagues, the PFA and referees.

Haidara suffered knee ligament damage after the challenge by McManaman, but no action was taken against the Wigan player during the match.

“It’s hard to swallow,” Haidara told Thursday’s Le Parisien newspaper. “I don’t understand it. It (the tackle) could have could have ended my career, ruined my life…

“We have to protect the players. We can’t tolerate tackles like this in football. It ruins football and the authorities must act.”

Newcastle assistant manager John Carver and Wigan assistant coach Graham Barrow have been charged with misconduct by the FA after they clashed following the incident.