Michael Rawlinson represented The Football Association in contested proceedings brought before the Regulatory Commission of The FA against Neil Warnock, the Manager of Cardiff City FC.
The FA asserted that various media comments made by Mr Warnock in the aftermath of a defeat to Chelsea FC constituted misconduct, in breach of FA Rule E3, in that they questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.
Mr. Warnock had described Premier League referees as “the worst in the world”, as well as questioning whether his side’s treatment was “pay-back” for his own conduct over the years.
Mr. Warnock denied that the comments were improper, and further relied upon the legitimate expectation defence (as previously deployed in FA v Jose Mourinho in 2018) to suggest that he should never have been charged.
Following a contested hearing, the Regulatory Commission found all of the charges proved.
Mr. Warnock was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay a contribution to The FA’s costs.
Michael was instructed by Yousif Elagab of the FA’s Regulatory Team.
Michael is a member of 2 Hare Court’s Sports Law Team, and is regularly instructed in a variety of sport related matters including on and off-field misconduct against players and coaches, disciplinary matters, crowd management and safeguarding.
The case was widely covered in the national press. To read about it in more detail please click on the links below.
BBC | Daily Mail | Sky
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