Sam Allardyce has failed in his attempts to get Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and Momo Sissoko banned after incidents in the draw between Bolton and Liverpool at the Reebok Stadium yesterday.
Steven Gerrard stood on Kevin Nolan’s chest in what both players said was an unavoidable accident, and Momo Sissoko caught El-Hadji Diouf’s leg when trying to retrieve the ball after a Diouf dive had been ignored by the referee.
Under FIFA guidelines there is no option for the referee to take further action against the two players because both incidents were seen by the referee, and FIFA don’t allow an official to change his mind after the game if he had already seen the incident.
An FA spokesman confirmed that the referee had mention both events in his match report: “Referee Mark Clattenburg has confirmed to us that he saw both incidents during the game.”
No word on whether Sam Allardyce will face any action for his comments, or whether El-Hadji Diouf will be penalised for his persistent “simulation”.