Slaven Bilic calls for FA bans explanation
Slaven Bilic has called on the FA to be more clear on retrospective bans – as star man Matheus Pereria gets set to return from suspension at Millwall tomorrow.
Pereira was issued with a three-game ban for an alleged elbow on Joe Allen when Albion took on Stoke last month.
But since then there have been a number of high profile incidents of violent conduct that have gone unpunished.
During Leeds’ clash against Millwall, midfielder Mateusz Klich appeared to stamp on Tom Bradshaw.
While Brentford key man Said Benrahma was caught on camera elbowing Hull’s Stephen Kingsley in the face last weekend.
Unlike Pereira, though, neither player was slapped with a retrospective ban.
But when Albion asked why, Bilic said the answer the FA gave was like something you would read at a primary school.
“I wanted to ask you about that, if you could explain it to me,” Bilic said when quizzed on why Pereira received a retrospective ban but Klich and Benrahma did not. “Obviously, I’m disappointed in the system, the way it works, it’s not the same for everybody, the same criteria.
“In this stage of the season, with the league this tight, everything is important.
“On one hand we had a player who had a three-match ban, we didn’t moan – except me – but the club said okay, right.
“Now you have a couple of at least similar situations, if not worse, if not more deliberate. But it’s ‘okay, let’s move on’.
“The explanation the club got (from the FA) was, in the greatest respect, like a primary school explanation. It didn’t explain anything to us.”
There have been suggestions Pereira was banned because the Stoke game was shown live on Sky – therefore the incident received more scrutiny.
Bilic, though,wants every incident to be treated the same.
“Nobody wants players to be banned but both of them (Klich and Benrahma) are very good players,” he added.
“They are very important players for their clubs and their teams.
“It is simply not right.
“Then you have all that information that if the game is on Sky or if it’s not on Sky.
“What is that? It’s very disappointing.
“But as a club we are too polite, which we like to be.
“But we are to polite, we don’t react to those situations like it’s a matter of life and death. Maybe we should.”
