FA Punishes Rodri For Criticising Referee Following Tottenham Clash

‎Rodri has been fined £80,000 by a Football Association regulatory commission for comments he made criticising refereeing after Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham in February.

‎The midfielder was frustrated that Dominic Solanke’s 53rd-minute goal stood despite Manchester City leading 2-0 at the time.

‎He believed the goal should have been disallowed because Solanke appeared to kick through the leg of Marc Guéhi before the ball went in. Despite his remarks, Rodri avoided any sporting sanctions.

‎After the game, Rodri criticised the referee, Robert Jones. “I know we won too much and the people don’t want us to win, but the referee has to be neutral,” he said. “It’s not fair because we work so hard. When ­everything is finished, you are ­frustrated. It’s one game and another game and another game and it’s not possible.

‎“Honestly, I never speak about ­referees, I respect their job ­massively. But they have to pay attention to these things.

‎”He kicked the leg, it’s so clear. It’s two, three games in a row and I don’t know why.”

‎Rodri, who admitted the charge of making comments that implied bias and/or questioned the integrity of a match official, submitted written ­evidence to try to explain them.

‎He said, “This is what I meant by, ‘but it’s not today, it’s two, three games in a row. And I don’t know why honestly’: we have ­experienced other occasions in our matches where I believe decisions have been ­incorrect.

‎”The bad foul by Diogo Dalot on [Jérémy] Doku at Manchester United [17 January] which should have been a red card, and [Antoine] Semenyo’s disallowed goal at ­Newcastle in the Carabao Cup [13 January]. I don’t have an ­explanation as to why the mistakes have happened.

‎“‘We won too much and the ­people, they don’t want us to win, but the referee has to be neutral’: supporters of other clubs who have witnessed our success will not want to see that continue. That thought process doesn’t apply to referees, who are professionally neutral in their roles.

‎”I did not say that referees are not neutral (as the media ­articles you have sent to me wrongly ­suggest). I meant that this can be ruled out as an explanation as to why referee ­mistakes have happened recently.

‎“‘And for me, honestly, it’s not fair, it’s not fair’ it doesn’t feel fair when the result is influenced by an incorrect decision rather than just the performance of the team.”

‎To support their case and help prevent a ban for the 29-year-old, Manchester City submitted evidence referencing three similar past incidents.

‎These involved Frank Lampard in May 2022 during his time as Everton manager, Fulham manager Marco Silva in January 2024, and Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder the following month. Each of them had criticised officials after matches but received fines rather than suspensions.

‎Alongside his £80,000 fine, Rodri has also been formally warned about his future conduct.