Poll results: Football Association confirm Yaya Touré will not be cited for kicking Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel
The Football Association has confirmed it will not take retrospective action against Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré following Saturday's 0-0 draw at Carrow Road.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel of Norwich is floored by Yaya Touré of Man City during the Barclays Premier League match at Carrow Road, Norwich. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel was enraged after Touré kicked him in the back in the closing stages of Saturday's hard-fought stalemate.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel of Norwich is furious with Yaya Touré of Man City during the Barclays Premier League match at Carrow Road, Norwich. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
The Dutchman rolled around on the floor in apparent pain, before leaping to his feet and making a beeline for the Ivorian powerhouse midfielder.
Sebastien Bassong of Norwich has a stern word with Ricky Van Wolfswinkel of Norwich to try and calm him down during the Barclays Premier League match at Carrow Road, Norwich. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
The Canaries striker, around three inches shorter than Touré, had to be held back by team-mate Leroy Fer as he charged forward to try and confront the former Barcelona man.
Neither were booked by referee John Moss but match highlights have shown Touré did kick out at van Wolfswinkel.
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The kick had been described as no more than 'petulant' by former Premier League referee Graham Poll, but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho disagreed this lunchtime.
Mourinho, who of course has a vested interest in one of his side's title rivals having one of their best players being potentially banned for three matches, said: 'If he is not suspended the message is clear – you can do what you want. If the FA defends football he has to be suspended.'
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You agreed with the Chelsea boss, with 69pc of readers voting in an online poll earlier today calling for Touré to be punished for his actions.
The FA has this afternoon announced that no retrospective action will be taken against Touré but has charged Cardiff City striker Craig Bellamy with violent conduct following what appeared to be a punch to the back of the head of Jonathan de Guzman during his side's 3-0 loss at Swansea City on Saturday evening.
Former World Cup referee Poll, writing in his regular column for the Daily Mail and calling for Bellamy to be punished but not Touré, said: 'Referees are asked for consistency and the governing body must do the same.
'That said, in these cases the FA should not take action against either player as neither incident is a major one or particularly violent.
'If they are going to step in on a consistent basis then they should only do so with clear and obvious incidents that the active match officials have missed.'
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