Matheus Cunha’s offer to buy new glasses for an Ipswich security guard with whom he was involved in an altercation helped convince an independent disciplinary panel to cut his ban from three matches to two.
The Wolves forward was charged by the Football Association on 16 December after he was seen confronting members of Ipswich’s security team after his side’s last-gasp loss at Molineux two days earlier. That included him grabbing the glasses of a security guard in the melee.
A two-match ban was issued by an independent regulatory commission on New Year’s Eve and on Tuesday that panel’s findings were published on the FA website. They show that Cunha’s offer to replace the spectacles of the security guard – whose name was redacted in the written reasons – were a factor in reducing the ban.
The panel said a three-match ban was the “starting point” for a sanction but “agreed that Cunha’s acceptance of the charge, his prompt personal apology (which it found to be sincere), the offer to pay for new glasses and his clean disciplinary record, were mitigating factors”.
The written reasons show Wolves pushed for a one-match ban. “[The commission] did not accept WWFC’s argument that it should take account of the fact that the ITFC security personnel were overly aggressive and contributed to the atmosphere of hostility,” the written reasons state.
“Even if that were the case, which the Commission did not accept, it did not amount to mitigation for [Cunha’s] actions. Taking all of these factors into account, the Commission decided to reduce the suspension by one match [to two matches].”
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The mitigating factors that helped reduce the length of Cunha’s ban also helped to secure a reduction in the fine, from £120,000 to £80,000.
Source: theguardian.com
