The English Football Association has charged Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse following last night's Premier League match at St. James' Park.

During the course of the game, which Manchester United won 1-0 thanks to a last minute Ashley Young goal, Evans and Cisse were involved in a confrontation.




It appeared that Evans spat at the ground in the direction of Cisse, who then confronted the defender and appeared to spit back.

 


Both Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal and Newcastle United boss John Carver denied having seen the incident in question. But now the FA has charged the pair and the incident will be reviewed by an independent panel of former referees.

Spitting at an opposing player, if seen by the referee, is a sending off offence.

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The pair have been given until 6pm tomorrow to respond to the charge, which will be reviewed by a three-man panel of former elite referees.

FA Statement In Full

Newcastle United’s Papiss Cisse and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans have both been charged by The FA following their game on Wednesday 4 March 2015.

The charges are in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the game the two players spat at each other.

The incidents were not seen by the match officials but caught on video.

Both players have until 6pm on Friday 6 March 2015 to respond to the charge.

In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by The FA to review the footage independently of each other.

They will then advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence.

In this instance, the decision by the panel was unanimous in respect of both players.

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