The Football Association has charged Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager competing in the Premier League, with improper conduct due to his attack on the officiating crew during a match, describing it as disrespectful because he was eating a sandwich in front of them. Wilder was upset with the refereeing decisions during his team's 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace last January and called referee Tony Harrington's performance ridiculous. In talks with the media, the coach also hinted that referees were more inclined to make decisions against his team. The FA stated that Wilder is accused of breaching Regulation "E3.1" due to his comments following the match. In a statement on Wednesday, it said: "The manager's remarks constitute improper conduct as they contain bias or attack the integrity of referees or officials in general."
Wilder was angered after his goalkeeper, Ivo Grbić, had to leave due to a concussion following a challenge from Crystal Palace player Jean-Philippe Mateta, who did not receive a warning. In the post-match press conference, Wilder stated: "This is another ridiculous performance from the referee. A Premier League referee told me, and he was very honest, 'Get ready because every close decision will go against you, every (decision) that is a 50-50 chance will be against you.'" He added: "Their player took out our goalkeeper, and we had to change keepers. Regardless of whether that incident was (unintentional) or not, he deserves a yellow card. Every tough decision goes against us; I'm not just looking at the last ten matches; it's a longer period, from before I came here."
