Manchester United fans might have had to swallow yet another league title for Man City, but they are still hoping to put a dent in their chances of winning the treble as they are now calling for Erling Haaland to be banned from the FA Cup final after swearing on live TV.
The celebrations after City‘s latest title win have already spawned plenty of memes in just a couple of days — Haaland rocking up to the title party in his pyjamas, cooking his own tea in a restaurant and running off to dance mid-interview just to name a few — but the star striker’s little outburst on telly is causing a bit of a stir.
ln case you missed it, the 22-year-old ambushed Sky Sports whilst they were chatting to Jack Grealish after full-time to tell him, “I f***ing love you, you know that?”
As is usually the case with the big Norwegian personality, it was undeniably funny:
United fans might want Haaland banned for swearing, but he continues to crack us up regardless.
Now, we all know this was just a little bit of fun and isn’t even the first time Haaland has sworn on TV, but aside from being flagged as inappropriate for a live broadcast pre-watershed, United fans watching on were almost immediately taken back to over a decade ago and Wayne Rooney.
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The club’s all-time leading goalscorer and England legend was hit with a two-match ban which saw his miss the 2011 FA Cup semi-final against Man City, no less, after shouting “f***ing come on!” down the camera following their 4-2 comeback against West Ham when Rooney scored a hattrick.
Despite leaving the fans, players and Sir Alex Ferguson outraged, the decision to suspend him was upheld following a failed appeal and United had to do without their then-in-form star man for the semi against City, which they went on to lose 1-0 after a Yaya Touré winner.
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Naturally, although the controversial instance happened 12 years ago, many Reds are demanding that the same punishment be handed down to Haaland as a matter of parity, not to mention they’d do anything to see this year’s record-breaking golden boot winner miss the FA Cup final.
The particulars on why United fans believe Haaland should be banned from the FA Cup final.
Wayne Rooney got 3 match ban in 2011 for swearing on live TV, this saw Rooney miss the FA cup semi final against Man City which we lost 1-0, if same rules apply then surely Haaland should be banned for the FA cup final🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/vGpd3nQPtB
While it seems that the Football Association (FA) are unlikely to take the matter any further, with writer Martin Lipton reporting that Haaland “will not be probed over his use of the f-word live on Sky Sports on Sunday”, it’s fair to say that one half of Manchester has a pretty valid grievance.
Nevertheless, if reports are to be believed, “FA disciplinary chiefs do not believe any action is required and that there are no plans to investigate” — sorry, United fans.
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Do you think it’s only fair that he faces similar treatment or should a harsh decision be kept in the past where it belongs?
We’re not saying that City necessarily need Haaland to take that step closer to the treble but it’d certainly help.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
23rd May 2023 
