West Ham winger Robert Snodgrass is facing a potential ban after he was officially charged with using insulting or abusive language to members of the UK Anti-Doping organisation, according to the Scottish Sun.
The Scottish wide man was officially charged by the FA on Monday (4 March), as confirmed on their website, as he was alleged to have verbally attacked the officials behind the scenes after they visited the club’s training ground.
The newspaper’s report states that with there being no set punishment he is set to stand in front of a FA commission to determine what he will face, with both a fine and a ban a possibility.
Opinion
What a stupid, stupid thing to do. While we do not have all the facts, the anti-doping officials were just doing their job and there is no reason why Snodgrass or anyone else should be treating them with anything but respect. The players might shout, swear and scream at referees on the pitch – something that could be dealt with by taking a page out of rugby’s book – but that does not give anyone the excuse to do it elsewhere. If Snodgrass is banned for his behaviour then the only person he has to blame is himself. It would be a shame to see him forced to the sidelines as he has been one of the Hammers’ most hard working and effective players this season but at the same time abusive behaviour towards officials cannot be tolerated. Hopefully he and the rest of his teammates will learn from his mistakes.