Everton star Richarlison posts defiant response to FA charge
The FA have charged Everton star Richarlison with “improper conduct” over his celebration of the winner against Chelsea, Richard Buxton reported on Twitter.
The Brazilian had picked up a blue smoke canister thrown from the crowd after scoring the only goal of the game in a crucial win during the relegation battle a month ago (1 May), and threw it off the pitch.
Goodison News pundit Kevin Campbell was confident that nothing would come of the investigation as he asserted the device had been thrown over a gap in the stand and out of the ground in that corner.
But that appears not to be the case so far as the 25-year-old has been given a week to respond (8 June), although he is currently on international duty.
In response to the news the player himself posted on his personal Twitter account a black and white image of himself holding the smoke bomb, with only the blue of his shirt and the smoke in colour.
The charge comes a day after they fined manager Frank Lampard for his comments about Stuart Attwell’s refereeing in the Merseyside Derby.
Zero tolerance
Despite eventually managing to secure Premier League safety against Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the season it was distinctly touch-and-go for weeks.
The image of the key attacking threat holding what has widely been referred to as a “flare” became emblematic of the fight against the drop.
It appears that Richarlison values that far more than whatever punishment may be in store from the governing body based on his quick response on Twitter.
If he responds in time and explains what former captain Campbell believes to be the case he might be free from further censure either way.
But it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ignored the whole thing and simply took a fine for it.
Clearly players shouldn’t throw items into the crowd, but assuming that he throw it over the stand and as it was not malicious anyway there is less of a problem here.
It has become an increasing issue for smoke bombs to be thrown onto the pitch, which while they look good in the streets outside should probably on balance be left there.
So while the rights and wrongs of this particular incident are debatable from the player’s point of view the FA seem to be cracking down.
Fans will likely love their hero even more for his reaction, even if he does appear to be heading for the exit.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have asked a major club about a possible deal for an international player.
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