Essien Escapes Further Punishment

By 40 Years A Blue
October 18 2005

The FA has announced that Chelsea's Michael Essien will not face anymore action after his tackle on Bolton's Ben Haim on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. The midfielder received a yellow card for his crude, but mistimed tackle on Haim.

Critics, pundits and even supporters felt the Essien should have been showed a straight red card.

Since Saturday's game, Referee Rob Styles has looked at the video and then informed the FA that he WOULD have shown a Red Card had he seen the incident from a different angle. After receiving Styles' comments the FA contacted FIFA to clarify whether any further disciplinary action could be taken.

FIFA had expressed concern following an incident at the start of the season when a red card that was shown to Jermaine Jenas, then of Newcastle, was subsequently downgraded to a booking.

As the referee had seen the incident involving Essien and decided to show a yellow card, FIFA informed the FA that in such cases the referee's decision is final and cannot be changed retrospectively.