Erling Haaland facing FA charge after ‘WTF’ tweet and altercation with referee Simon Hooper: Reports
Erling Haaland could reportedly be charged by the English Football Association for his comments after Manchester City's 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (December 3).
In the aftermath of these comments, ESPN claimed that Erling Haaland could be charged for breaching Rule E3.1, which governs social media remarks.
The report comes after the Norway international reacted on his X account (formerly Twitter) to referee Simon Hooper denying the Cityzens the chance to grab a late winner.
In what was a dramatic contest, Son Heung-min scored his side's opener (6') but netted an unfortunate own goal just three minutes later. Phil Foden put the European champions in front during the 31st minute before Giovani Lo Celso levelled the scoring in the 69th.
Jack Grealish then scored in the 81st minute only to see his side concede again to Dejan Kulusevski's headed effort (90'). However, Manchester City seemingly had one final chance to nudge ahead when Haaland was fouled at the halfway line. The striker maintained his balance and managed to play Grealish through on goal.
However, the on-field official Simon Hooper called the game back for the foul on the former Borussia Dortmund man. Livid with the incident that potentially cost his side the match, Haaland shared a video of the incident on X, captioning it:
"Wtf."
Only a month ago, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was charged for his comments regarding officials after the Gunners' 1-0 loss to Newcastle United (November 4).
Pep Guardiola reacts to Simon Hooper's controversial call on Erling Haaland in Manchester City's 3-3 draw with Spurs
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was unhappy with on-field referee Simon Hooper's decision disallowing the Cityzens an opportunity to score a late winner against Spurs.
Even the north London side's manager, Ange Postecoglou, admitted that his side got away with one following the official's call. Addressing the incident, Guardiola said after the match (via ESPN):
"Even the referee -- if he played for Man City today he would be disappointed for that action, that's for sure. I make mistakes, players make mistakes. When Erling goes down, the ref said play on and after making the pass, he stopped the game."
After this draw, the Manchester outfit are third in the Premier League with 30 points, three behind league-leaders Arsenal. They travel to Aston Villa for their next league match on Wednesday (December 6).