Ibrahimovic and Mings charged with violent conduct

Bournemouth will appeal against defender Tyrone Mings’ violent conduct charge from the Football Association.

Ibrahimovic was charged with elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings in the match at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Although the referee did not punish either player at the time, reviews from the governing body ended with both seeing violent conduct charges.

Along with the clashes against Liverpool and Chelsea, Mings will also miss Bournemouth’s matches with West Ham United, Swansea City and Southampton.

The FA submitted a claim that a standard punishment would be “clearly insufficient” given the offence.

The FA have now confirmed that Ibrahimovic has accepted his charge and will therefore serve an automatic three-game suspension starting with immediate effect.

As a side that already has a penchant for drawing matches against minnows – see Bournemouth 1-1 – Ibrahimovic’s absence will only plunge the likelihood of victory in those matches further into doubt.

Manchester United legend Ince, something of an enforcer during his playing days, believes Ibrahimovic deserves his ban.

“I respect every decision”, he had said.

Mings denied it had been a deliberate act and said: “I obviously didn’t mean it, but if there is reaction, there is reaction – everyone will have an opinion”.

After a frustrating 1-1 draw, Ibrahimovic told MUTV: “I jump, I protect myself, I jump very high, he jumps into me”.

Ibrahimovic just so happens to be arguably their most irreplaceable player too. Bournemouth’s trip to Liverpool has been made even more hard, and they didn’t exactly enjoy their last visit to Merseyside.

In the same United attack, Ibrahimovic’s right elbow then connected with Mings’ head as the two jumped for a header.

Fortunately, there are rules in the game that deter such behaviour and referees and football governing bodies continue taking a strict view of altercations.