Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder in FA pickle over sandwich rant
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Chris Wilder was upset with decisions during his side's 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace in January described the referee's performance as ridiculous.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for a rant at match officials, which included calling them disrespectful for eating a sandwich in front of him.
Wilder was upset with decisions during his side’s 3-2 Premier League defeat by Crystal Palace in January and described referee Tony Harrington’s performance as “ridiculous”. He also implied that officials were more likely to give decisions against his team.
The FA said Wilder, 56, has been charged with a breach of Rule E3.1 in relation to his post-match comments.
“It’s alleged that the manager’s comments constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias/or attack the integrity of the referee, or referees generally,” the FA said in a statement on Feb 14.
Wilder’s anger was sparked after his goalkeeper Ivo Grbic was forced off with concussion after a collision with Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, who did not receive a yellow card.
“It’s yet another ridiculous performance from the referee. I was told by a Premier League referee, ‘Get ready, because every tight decision will go against you, every 50-50 will go against you’,” Wilder said after the game.
“Their boy takes our ’keeper out, we had to change ’keepers. It makes no odds if it’s an accident or not, it’s a yellow card. Every tight decision goes against us.
“I’m not looking back over the last 10 games, it’s over a longer period, before I was here as well. Maybe the thought process is that, ‘They won’t be long in this division and I might be refereeing the other team next year, so I don’t want to upset too many people’.”
Wilder also said that when he went to confront the officials after the game, an assistant referee was eating a sandwich.
“But I’m not just going to go under the radar and not say anything. I’ve been to see the referee and I’ve told him that,” Wilder said at the time. “One of his assistants was eating a sandwich, which I thought was a complete lack of respect.
“Hopefully he enjoyed his sandwich while he was talking to a Premier League manager.”
Wilder has until Feb 16 to respond to the charge.
Meanwhile, a Dutch court on Feb 14 sentenced Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes to six years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking.
Former Dutch international Promes did not attend court hearings in Amsterdam and is not expected to return to the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.
The 32-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Sevilla forward was in 2023 sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail for assault, in connection with a fight in 2020 when he stabbed a cousin in the knee. REUTERS
