George Boyd 'spitting' incident: Hull City striker charged by FA over Joe Hart confrontation
The pair clashed during City's 2-0 win at the weekend
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Hull striker George Boyd has been hit with a Football Association misconduct charge for spitting at Manchester City keeper Joe Hart.
Boyd has until 6pm on Wednesday to respond to the charge, which relates to an incident which was not seen by referee Lee Mason during the Tigers' 2-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by City at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
An FA statement said: "Hull City's George Boyd has been charged by the FA following his side's game against Manchester City on March 15, 2014.
"The charge is in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1 [a] in that in or around the 68th minute of the game, Boyd spat at Manchester City's Joe Hart. The incident was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.
"Boyd has until 6pm on March 19, 2014 to respond to the charge.
"Under a new pilot project in Premier League matches this season, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by the FA to review it and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.
"For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the panel were of the unanimous decision that it was an act of misconduct."
Boyd and Hart became embroiled in a furious exchange after the striker went to ground under the keeper's challenge inside the City area.
Mr Mason waved away his appeals for a penalty as Hart confronted the Tigers man, intimating that he had dived.
The England international was cautioned after the pair clashed heads, but television replays later suggested Boyd had spat during the bust-up.
Hull boss Steve Bruce later defended his player, but the panel of referees decided there was indeed a case to answer.
Hart was booked for his part in the incident and the FA has confirmed that, as the referee saw and dealt with his conduct, he will face no further action.
However Boyd, who was not cautioned at the time, has not been so fortunate and will face a ban should he either plead or be found guilty.
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments