Leicester City have informed the Football Association that Jamie Vardy has accepted the improper conduct charge he received following his dismissal against West Ham United last Sunday but the England striker has requested a personal hearing in the hope that he can avoid an extended ban.
Vardy is expected to appear before a three-person independent disciplinary commission early next week, where player and club will have the opportunity to make their own representations in relation to the fall-out from his red card in the 2-2 draw. There is no pressure on the FA to convene the panel any earlier, because Vardy is automatically suspended for Sunday’s home game against Swansea City.
Although Vardy has accepted the improper conduct charge, the personal hearing will be crucial in terms of the player having the opportunity to explain why he reacted in the way he did when Jon Moss, the referee who was at the centre of so many controversial decisions at the King Power Stadium, showed him a second yellow card for alleged diving. Vardy will need to convince the panel that his actions, and in particular the reasons behind them, do not merit another suspension on top of his mandatory one-match ban.
There are a number of sanctions open to the commission, with the best case scenario for Leicester and Vardy being that he gets fined, clearing him to play in the Premier League leaders’ final three matches of the season, against Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea.
Leicester, who have also accepted an FA charge of failure to control their players in the same game, gave careful consideration to their response to the governing body. It is understood that there was concern within the club that if Vardy denied the improper charge it could turn into a soap opera that threatened to overshadow Sunday’s match as well as the visit to Old Trafford.
At the same time, there is still some hope at Leicester that Vardy could yet get the chance to feature in that game if he can make a strong case in relation to the circumstances surrounding his reaction.
Vardy also has the backing of Roy Hodgson, whose public support could not have come at a better time for Leicester or the player and is no doubt a source of considerable embarrassment to the FA. Hodgson, the England manager and the FA's highest-profile employee, insisted that Vardy is the victim of an injustice and said that the 29-year-old should not be castigated for his "human" reaction to his first red card as a professional footballer.
(Guardian service)
