Leeds Striker Patrick Bamford Banned For Lying To A Referee

Leeds striker Patrick Bamford has been handed a two-match ban by the Football Football Association for cheating referee.

Bamford was found guilty of “successful deception of a match official” in their match against Aston Villa which ended in a draw.

The player went down as though he had been hit in the face by Anwar El Ghazi after Leedds’s opener.

Replays showed Villa’s Dutch winger had made no contact with the head of the 25-year-old.

El Ghazi was sent off but had the red card rescinded on Tuesday.

Bamford will miss Sunday’s Championship trip to Ipswich and the first leg of Leeds’ play-off semi-final tie.

Leeds said in a statement that although Bamford did not deny the charge they had requested a hearing to “contest the penalty imposed on the player”.

They added: “The club felt that given the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the extraordinary act of sportsmanship which saw our head coach Marcelo Bielsa demand our team to allow Aston Villa to score an uncontested equaliser, we could have a sensible discussion around the sanction.

“We acknowledge that the FA panel did not feel that to be reasonable and the club therefore joins Patrick in accepting the two-match ban.”

The melee, in which the Bamford incident occurred, was sparked after Mateusz Klich scored for Leeds with Villa players appealing for the ball to be played out after Jonathan Kodjia had gone down injured in the centre circle.

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After clashes between the players and an exchange between the two benches, Leeds boss Bielsa ordered his team to allow Villa to walk in an equaliser from kick-off, which was scored by winger Albert Adomah. Sunday’s game finished 1-1.

On Tuesday both clubs were charged with failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion in the aftermath of Leeds’ goal. They have until 18:00 BST on Friday to respond to their respective charges.

Leeds’ failure to win saw Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United promoted to the Premier League and they will now feature alongside Villa in the play-offs.

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