Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been charged by the FA over his conduct following his straight red card against Newcastle United at the weekend.
It took less than half an hour for van Dijk to be shown a straight red card, presented to him for bringing down Newcastle’s Alexander Isak who was in a goal scoring position and had got the better of Liverpool’s back line.
The Dutch centre back clearly wasn’t happy with the decision against him, visibly arguing back with referee John Brooks as the incident was being reviewed by VAR.
He could also be seen arguing with the Fourth Official as he made his way back towards the tunnel following VAR’s confirmation of his foul.
It was during the exchange of words with John Brooks that the FA has alleged that van Dijk used “abusive/and or insulting words” towards the official.
The FA said in a statement on the matter “Virgil van Dijk has been charged with a breach of FA rule E3.1 following Liverpool’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Sunday, 27 August.”
“It’s alleged that the defender acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official after being sent off in the 29th minute.”
The 32-year-old Liverpool man will have until this Friday, the 1st of September to respond to the charge.
As things stand, van Dijk is set to serve a one-match ban for the original offence that earned him the red card, meaning he will miss Liverpool’s clash with Aston Villa this Sunday. What other punishments wait him should the charge stick, remains to be seen.
Virgil van Dijk’s charges fall in line with the philosophy of PGMOL chief Howard Webb, who has said that he is “determined” not to “turn a blind eye” to bad player & coach behaviour towards his officials.
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Despite van Dijk’s self-inflicted drama, Liverpool went on to win the match against Newcastle with 10 men, with a late Darwin Nunez brace pinching them the victory at 2-1.
