Arsenal youth coach banned over misconduct
An Arsenal academy coach has been handed a three-match ban and fined £400 by the Football Association after reportedly insulting a female referee.
A disciplinary hearing found Alex Nicholas guilty of two charges of misconduct after a probe into the matter establishing he called the referee a "little p****."
Nicholas is said to have been involved in an altercation with the match official during an encounter between his Arsenal youth side and Reading.
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Two coaches drawn from the Reading technical bench who provided evidence accused Nicholas of "behaving aggressively" during the match.
The FA's lawyer observed the altercation left the female referee hurt as she even refused to shake hands with the Arsenal tactician after the match.
Nicholas, however, denied the allegations, but the hearing panel could not hear any of that, ruling the Arsenal coach was at fault.
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"We remain of the view that it is highly unlikely that the referee would have misheard ‘ok, fine’ for ‘how classy, little p**** ,’" the panel ruled.
Arsenal has since confirmed the suspension of Nicholas in the wake of the incident.
"At Arsenal, we do not accept or tolerate behaviour of this nature. We took appropriate action, suspending the coach immediately the allegation was brought to our attention," UK Metro quoted a club spokesperson.
"This was the first allegation of this nature in his long coaching career and has been warned about his future conduct," he added.
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