After appearing to strike out at Bruno Martins-Indi during a Premier League clash at Anfield, Mohamed Salah could receive a three-match ban.
The fixture on Saturday afternoon was easily one of the most boring affairs so far this season, with Liverpool a little bit leggy after a high-intensity win over AS Roma midweek.
It was a game filled with frustration with Mo Salah failing to bury a one-on-one in the first half before Andre Marriner turned down appeals from the Liverpool players for a penalty when the ball struck Erik Pieters’ arm inside the area.
However, things might get even worse for the Reds if the Football Association decides to look into a moment of madness from Salah in the first half.
After being harassed by Martins-Indi in a bid to win the ball back, Salah appears to strike out at the Dutch defender. It’s really a bizarre situation because the Stoke man barely reacts and although Salah makes minimal to no contact, there is a visible attempt to strike his opponent.
If investigated there is the risk that retrospective action could be taken against him, with the charge likely to be violent conduct or similar. The punishment for that kind of charge would be a three-game suspension.
Liverpool would seriously miss Salah if he were to be banned, with the winger on 31 goals this season in the Premier League. He would also miss the opportunity to break the record for goals scored in a single campaign and even see Harry Kane pip him to the Golden Boot.
Although Salah does look to strike Martins-Indi, I think the fact that there is minimal to no contact might play into his hands, especially after his countryman, Ahmed Hegazi, wasn’t banned for a similar offence last week.
After punching Danny Ings in the stomach, a three-man panel assessed whether or not it was worthy of a ban and unanimously concluded that it wasn’t. If they have set this precedent, can they justify banning Mo?
I’m not sure but given the comical inconsistencies within the FA, I wouldn’t be surprised if they sanctioned the Egyptian.
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