Frank Lampard will see his three-match ban wiped out by the FA today after referee Mike Riley admitted he made a horrible mistake on Sunday at Anfield.
Disbelief: Lampard after his red card
Lampard’s red card in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool will be overturned by an FA disciplinary commission after Riley accepted his error.
But, amazingly, Chelsea team-mate Jose Bosingwa looks set to escape punishment for his wild kick on Yossi Benayoun.
Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips is expected to be charged with violent conduct for kicking out at Stoke’s Rory Delap on Saturday, but the FA are powerless to charge Bosingwa because Riley has told them his assistant Mo Matadar saw the kick on Benayoun and decided not to act.
Matadar was only a couple of feet from the incident when Benayoun shielded the ball from Didier Drogba near a corner flag in the closing moments of Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield.
Bosingwa pushed past Drogba, planted the studs of his right boot into Benayoun’s back and forced him to the ground, but no action was taken.
FIFA rules prevent the FA from re-refereeing games with the benefit of hindsight and video replays, but they are allowed to step in and act on any incident missed by the match officials.
That means Lampard and Bosingwa should be available for Chelsea against Hull on
Saturday.
Bosingwa issued an apology on the club website, saying: ‘It was never my intention to
hurt him.’
TV footage clearly shows Lampard is first to the ball in a 50-50 midfield challenge with
Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, but Riley was quick to produce the red card.
Flashpoint: Lampard and Alonso clash
Concerns have been aired that the decision may have been sparked by Lampard’s honesty in Saturday’s Sportsmail when he spoke of a feud simmering between him and Alonso since he broke the Spaniard’s leg in a tackle four years ago.
Riley was also in charge of that game and booked Lampard for the challenge.
Ashley Cole, who clashed with Riley last season, turning his back on the official as he was cautioned against Spurs, claims Chelsea are victimised by the authorities — but
yesterday’s developments seem to disprove that theory.
Cole said: ‘All our players watched what happened with Shaun Wright-Phillips and no one gets booked or questioned about it. We do one little tackle and we seem to be getting yellow and red cards.’
Ironically, Wright-Phillips is set to be charged today and faces a three-match ban after
referee Martin Atkinson confirmed to the FA that he missed the retaliation on Delap,
sent off for a hack on the winger.
