FA Dismiss Martinez's Appeal

Roberto Martinez stood before the FA on the 16th October and sent forth the evidence that he had brought together to show that he was innocent in the affair, which took place post Manchester United. Roberto at the time said that Wigan got unfair decisions against the bigger teams especially United at their home grounds.

That to me and many of the fans of clubs who face the 'bigger teams' would mostly agree with the statement. The FA on the other hand have taken it as an allegation towards the referee with no good reason. This therefore brings the game into disrepute and goes against law E3.

However there is some good news for the Wigan manager, as the appeal board felt that Martinez and not meant to insinuate any bias in his original comments. This meant they reduced his proposed fine from £10,000 to £8,000. Well it is a win of sorts.

The official FA Statement read:

Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has had his appeal against the decision of the Regulatory Commission which found he had acted improperly in implying in post-match comments that the referee was bias dismissed.

The Appeal Board dismissed the appeal on 16 October 2012, having reheard the evidence in relation to the charge brought against Mr Martinez concerning his post match comments following the Manchester United versus Wigan Athletic fixture on Saturday 15 September 2012.

Mr Martinez was found to be in breach of FA Rule E3. The Appeal Board did, however, impose a fine of £8,000, reduced from £10,000, having regard to the new evidence presented to the Appeal Board which was not before the original regulatory commission.

Source: FA Website