Thursday 2 May 2019 19:44, UK
Patrick Bamford has been handed a two-match ban by the FA for "successfully deceiving a match official" during Leeds' controversial 1-1 draw with Aston Villa last weekend.
The striker went down under minimal contact during a confrontation with Anwar El Ghazi during the second half at Elland Road, with the Villa winger being sent off as a result.
However, El Ghazi's dismissal was overturned following an appeal by Villa, and Bamford has been punished instead. He will miss Leeds' game against Ipswich on Sunday, and the first leg of the play-off semi-final.
An FA statement announcing the suspension said Bamford denied the charge of deceiving the match officials, but Leeds say that is not the case.
Instead, they say Bamford did not deny the charge, and that a hearing was requested so as the club could contest the ban handed to the 25-year-old.
In addition, Leeds suggest Marcelo Bielsa's decision to allow Villa to score an unchallenged equaliser should have been taken into account when they were handing out the punishment to Bamford.
Bielsa made the call after Mateusz Klich scored, despite Villa believing Leeds would put the ball into touch after their striker Jonathan Kodjia suffered an injury.
A Leeds statement said: "Whilst Patrick Bamford did not deny a charge of successful deception of a match official following our Championship game against Aston Villa on Sunday, the club did request a hearing to contest the penalty imposed on the player.
"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."
