Manchester United’s Ibrahimovic banned for three games
Old Trafford striker to miss the FA Cup quarter-final clash at Chelsea and two Premier League matches after accepting a charge of violent conduct at last weekend’s stormy 1-1 league draw with Bournemouth
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea after accepting a charge of violent conduct and an immediate three-match ban, England’s Football Association said on Tuesday.
As well as Monday’s FA Cup clash, the 35-year-old Ibrahimovic - United’s leading scorer this season with 26 goals - will also miss the Premier League matches against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion.
Ibrahimovic and Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings were charged on Monday following two incidents in Saturday’s bad-tempered 1-1 league draw.
Mings appeared to deliberately stamp on Ibrahimovic’s head as he jumped over him late in the first half at Old Trafford and the Swedish striker seemed to retaliate moments later by elbowing the defender in the head.
Both players would ordinarily have been facing three-game bans but the FA took the unusual step of saying on Monday that in the case of Mings the standard punishment was “clearly insufficient”.
Bournemouth have until 2am HK time on Wednesday to decide whether to contest the charge against Mings.