Tyrone Mings will not face retrospective action for his collision with Reading striker Nelson Oliveira on Saturday afternoon, according to the BBC.
The Aston Villa defender, making his debut for the club, stamped on the face of the Portuguese forward, leaving him with a suspected broken nose and deep facial cuts.
Mings has apologised for the incident, claiming that ‘no-one feels worse than [him]’, as reported by the BBC.
As the referee saw the incident and chose not act on it, no further action will be taken against Mings.
OPINION
It’s highly likely that the incident was just a horrible accident, and there’s no doubt that Mings feels remorseful over what happened, but the FA must surely step in at this stage. It’s not about making an example of Mings or laying the blame at his door – accidents do happen – but given how blatant the incident was, and how serious the injuries Oliveira sustained were, surely it is only right that they issue some kind of ban. The collision was obvious dangerous play from Mings, and while he didn’t mean to inflict the damage he did, he could probably have done more to avoid the contact. It’s easy to say that in hindsight and with the luxury of watching from the stands, but regardless of intent, the 25-year-old should face some kind of suspension as an acknowledgement of the danger he caused. The whole basis of this ‘the referee saw it so we can’t act’ logic is deeply flawed, and surely it is time that the rule was reevaluated.