Eden Hazard has until Tuesday to explain why he kicked a 17-year-old ball boy who refused him the ball during a soccer match this week.
The 22-year-old Belgian midfielder who plays for Chelsea kicked Charlie Morgan during a game when the sideline attendant for Swansea didn’t return a ball that rolled out of bounds, BBC said.
The referee showed Hazard a red card for violent conduct, which carries a three-game suspension; however, the Football Association said that’s “clearly insufficient” and wants to speak with Hazard before issuing its punishment.
The ball boy – whose father, David, is director of Swansea City – dropped onto the ball at the 78-minute mark with Chelsea trailing in the League Cup semifinal. Swansea won the game 2-0 and advanced to the final to play Bradford.
“The boy put his whole body onto the ball and I was just trying to kick the ball, and I think I kicked the ball and not the boy. I apologize,” Hazard told TV cameras after the game, according to The Daily Mail.
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Chelsea urgently needed two goals against the home team with time ticking off the clock.
Those watching the game couldn’t understand how a ball boy could take such drastic, obvious measures to ensure the home team’s result.
Queen’s Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp called it “disgusting” and that Hazard was gentler than most players would have been, The Guardian reported.
“The boy was tweeting before the game that he’s a super time-waster,” said Redknapp, a long-time manager. “The way he behaved was disgusting.”
Both Hazard and Morgan apologized to each other after the game.
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