Huddersfield Town’s Kian Harratt has been suspended for four months and fined £3,200 following breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.
It was alleged that the forward had breached FA Rule E8.1 by placing 484 bets on football matches between 30 June 2020 and 3 June 2023, and he subsequently admitted to this charge.
An independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanctions after a hearing, and its written reasons for them can be seen here.
Danny Macklin has been suspended from all football and football-related activity up to and including 25 March 2024, and he has also been ordered to complete an education course.
The FA alleged that Danny Macklin breached FA Rule E3.1 by using abusive and/or insulting and/or threatening language in reference to a female member of AFC Wimbledon’s staff while he was employed as their Managing Director.
It was further alleged that this constitutes an ‘aggravated breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as his language included a reference - whether express or implied - to gender.
Danny Macklin subsequently admitted this charge. An independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanctions following a hearing and its written reasons can be read here.
At the start of the 2023/24 season, the English football authorities introduced a new Participant Behaviour Charter as part of the ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ football-wide campaign that focuses on addressing unacceptable conduct on the pitch, on the sidelines and in the stands.
The new Charter detailed stronger measures for players, managers, coaches, support staff and club officials to adhere to on a matchday and is in place across the Premier League, EFL, National League System (Steps 1-4), Barclays Women’s Super League, and Barclays Women’s Championship.
As a result, the first five months of the 2023/24 season has seen a significant decrease in both incidents of players surrounding match officials and charges of mass confrontations.
Under the new approach, match officials have been empowered by the game to take stronger action, alongside a consistent application of the existing measures, when participant behaviour falls below expected standards. This has seen a significant rise in cautions for dissent for players.
Misconduct Cases
- 37% decrease in charges for surrounding of a match official (from 19 to 12 charges)
- 43% decrease in charges for mass confrontations (from 61 to 35 charges)
- 10% decrease in charges for technical area misconduct (from 70 to 63 charges)
Match Discipline
- 88% increase in dissent cautions for players (from 966 to 1,813 cautions)
Mark Bullingham, FA CEO said: “This season, English football came together to take a collective stance against unacceptable behaviour in our game. It’s great to see that the new approach has made a positive impact on the season so far. We have seen a decrease in charges for surrounding of a match official, mass confrontations, technical area misconduct, and an increase in the number of cautions for dissent. This shows that our new approach is making an impact at the top of the pyramid, and we need to maintain this and ensure that these positive changes are carried through to the whole game.”
Howard Webb, Chief Refereeing Officer at PGMOL, said: “We were empowered and supported by the game to be more robust with our actions to address declining behaviour. A culture change won’t happen overnight and it is early days, but we are moving in the right direction and our officials are successfully delivering on our part of the collective football effort to reset behaviours, protect the reputation and promote the positive image of the game for the next generations. It has been encouraging to see improvements in some behaviours already and the aim is that cautions for dissent decrease significantly to a much lower level in time as this culture change takes effect. That is the real indication of the progress, and with the power of example being so strong, we all have a continued duty to hold firm for the benefit of the game’s future.
A Professional Game Board Sub-Committee has removed Barnsley from the 2023-24 Emirates FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player during their First Round Proper Replay against Horsham on Tuesday 14 November 2023.
The FA alleged that the player was ineligible for this Replay, as he was not correctly registered and eligible for the original First Round Proper match on Friday 3 November 2023, which constitutes a breach of FA Cup Rule 103.
Barnsley admitted this charge and acknowledged that the breach had occurred. The Sub-Committee’s members ordered that Barnsley be removed from the competition, and that Horsham be awarded the tie and progression to the Second Round Proper.
Subject to any appeal by Barnsley, Horsham will now play away to Sutton United in the Second Round Proper on Saturday 2 December 2023.
Sheffield Wednesday have been fined £50,000 and warned as to their future conduct for crowd control misconduct at the EFL League One match against Peterborough United on Thursday 18 May 2023.
Sheffield Wednesday admitted that they failed to ensure their spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and don’t commit any form of pitch incursion.
Global Summit 2024