27 December 2023 , 12:53
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Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno is expected to escape punishment from the Football Association after appearing to shove a ball boy during the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
Leno, 31, placed his left arm on the boy as he hurried to retrieve the ball for a goal kick during the second half at Vitality Stadium. He later apologised to the boy and referee Tim Robinson intervened following the incident to instruct that all ball boys be stood down from action.
The FA view in such instances is that because the match officials dealt with it during the game, no retrospective action should be taken. Leno had already received a yellow card for attempting to delay Dominic Solanke from taking a penalty kick.
Speaking about the incident post-game, Fulham boss Marco Silva insisted that while Leno “touched” the boy it was not sufficient to call it a “push.” He also suggested that the ball boys had been instructed to take their time so Bournemouth could preserve their two-goal cushion.
Silva said: “It’s clear that Bernd went to speak with the boy after that moment as the top professional he is, a really experienced player. We wanted to play quick. I don’t know who gave instructions for them to hold always the ball to delay the beginning of the game again.
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“I didn’t see him pushing. He touched the ball boy, not pushed the ball boy. They are different things. I am not English but I know the difference between one word and the other.
“To the fourth official it is so clear that the ball boys were delaying the game. At the moment it was already 2-0 but the rules are there. We wanted to play quick like Bournemouth before they had the chance to play quick.
Referee Tim Robinson speaks to a match steward, instructing him to remove all ball boys from duty for the remainder of the match. (Sean Ryan/IPS/REX/Shutterstock)“After they start leading, the ball boys did their job probably with instructions to delay the game and what the referee did in the moment was say we will finish the muti-ball to stop that situation. They were always delaying to avoid some problems. The referee took that decision.”
But Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said there were no instructions provided to the ball boys. He said: “I don’t know what happened exactly but everyone has to be careful because they are boys who are trying to help everyone, not only Bournemouth, all parties involved.”