FA Hands Adebayor Three-match Ban For Stamp on van Persie

The hot-tempered high-profile match between Manchester City and Arsenal on Saturday 12 September 2009 included some unsavoury incidents. One of these (see videoclip below) was a stamping incident where Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor put his boot on to the face of his ex-teammate Robin van Persie of Arsenal.


Emmanuel Adebayor Stamped And Kicked Robin Van Persie's Head HD

The act was clearly intentional. Referee Mark Clattenburg did not see the incident (you can see from the video that Clattenburg's focus is still on the ball as Adebayor rakes his right boot across van Persie). During the FA’s misconduct review, Clattenburg told the FA he did not see the incident. However, he confirmed that had he done so he would have sent Adebayor off for violent conduct.

Despite Adebayor's claims of innocence, referees have a method to help them decide whether there is intent to injure an opponent in a challenge. The "trick" is to consider what the offending player would have done if faced with his own teammate. Would the offending player have performed the same action or would he have, in a fraction of a second, slowed down or changed direction?

Stamp Out Stamping

References
Adebayor handed three-match ban
Adebayor hit with two FA charges
Man City 4 - 2 Arsenal

Emmanuel Adebayor Stamped And Kicked Robin Van Persie's Head
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