FA will not punish McManaman for horror tackle on Newcastle's Haidara (From The Northern Echo)

FA will not punish McManaman for horror tackle on Newcastle's Haidara

3:37pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in Sport By Scott Wilson

Newcastle United's Massadio Haidara is carried from the field on a stretcher after a horror tackle by Wigan's Callum McManaman

THE FA have revealed that Wigan attacker Callum McManaman will not receive any punishment for the tackle that seriously injured Newcastle defender Massadio Haidara on Sunday.

Referee Mark Halsey failed to even award a free-kick for the reckless challenge that left Haidara nursing knee ligament damage at the DW Stadium.

However, because at least one of the match officials witnessed the incident, the FA claim they cannot take any retrospective action despite video evidence clearly proving that McManaman committed a serious foul.

An FA statement said: "Following consultation with the game's stakeholders (the Premier League, the Football League, the Professional Footballers’ Association, the League Managers’ Association, Professional Game Match Officials Limited and the National Game) in the summer, it was agreed that retrospective action should only be taken in respect of incidents which have not been seen by the match officials.

"Where one of the officials has seen a coming together of players, no retrospective action should be taken, regardless of whether he or she witnessed the full or particular nature of the challenge. This is to avoid the re-refereeing of incidents.

"In the case of McManaman, it has been confirmed that at least one of the match officials saw the coming together, though not the full extent of the challenge. In these circumstances retrospective action cannot be taken.

"The principal objective behind the not seen policy is to address off the ball incidents where match officials are unlikely to be in a position to witness misconduct."