Sky Sports pundit: FA and police investigations of Everton’s Richarlison will find nothing
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
The investigations into Everton forward Richarlison from the police and the FA are “not a problem” because he did nothing wrong says Kevin Campbell.
The Times reported yesterday that the FA’s inquiry into the Brazilian throwing a blue smoke canister after scoring against Chelsea was set to be put on hold, because Merseyside Police were due to look into it.
But Sky Sports pundit Campbell knows Goodison Park as good as anyone after spending over six seasons as a Toffees striker, and disputes the assumption that the man currently following in his footsteps threw the smoke bomb back into the crowd.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News he said: “No, it went out of the ground. It went over.
“The angle where he is, because I know it well, he threw it out. He didn’t throw it back into the fans.
“He threw it over. There’s a gap there. He threw it over that wall.
“Of course they have to look at it. They can look, check it out. He threw it over the fans and out of the ground.
“So they can investigate all they like, it’s not a problem.”
As soon the Toffees forward picked the canister off the pitch after putting his side ahead in the 1-0 over Chelsea (1 May) it seemed like a risky move considering the luck the club have had with officials.
But while Kevin Friend didn’t react, the FA quickly said they would look into it, and former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett insists Richarlison is due a ban of up to three games.
But there must be footage from somewhere in the ground that would capture the extent of where it went, so if Campbell is confident there is nothing else to see here then perhaps this time the club can avoid the major blow of losing a key player.
In other Everton news, another Premier League referee has named one “hard as nails” former Toffee as the toughest player he’s officiated.
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