Manchester United centre-back Jonny Evans has been labelled “simply disgusting” over his spitting incident involving Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse.
Evans is currently serving a six-match ban over the incident, while Cisse is ruled out for seven-matches for spitting back at the Northern Ireland international.
But while the Toon forward admitted his guilt, Evans denied the charge and was granted an FA disciplinary hearing.
The written reasons for that Independent Regulatory Commission hearing finding him to be guilty of the misconduct charge for spitting have now been released – and they won’t make for pleasant reading for Evans or United.
Indeed, United boss Louis van Gaal is dragged into the situation, with the commission members pondering whether Evans would have performed the same “habitual” spitting action if it had been the Dutchman on the ground in front of him at the time rather than Cisse.
According to The Sun, the report read: “It is clear that Mr Evans is looking directly and indeed aggressively at Mr Cisse. His lips are ‘pursed’ and he is close to Mr Cisse.
“If he was, as alleged to be the case, a person who ‘habitually spits’, then the commission were concerned as to why he did not turn his head away from Mr Cisse when so spitting.
“If that had been a family member or indeed another team member or his manager in front and below him would he still have carried out the same manoeuvre?
“Mr Evans had (and has) a duty of care, if spitting for whatever reason, not to direct the same in the general direction of an opponent, or indeed anyone else. The video clips clearly show that he failed in his duty of care.
“There may, in some quarters, be substantial sympathy for Mr Evans, but the video evidence shows that he did what he did, and the ordinary man in the street will find his action to be simply disgusting and should not be allowed in any walk of life, let alone on any football field.”
Evans will miss Premier League games against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea, having already been suspended for the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal.
