Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has been handed an additional one-game ban by the Football Association (FA) for his conduct after being sent off at Arsenal earlier this month.
The 26-year-old was shown two yellow cards in the space of three minutes by referee Darren England during the 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on March 1. The first was for dissent and the second, which saw him sent off in the 70th minute, was due to a bad challenge on Gabriel Martinelli.
The Portugal international, who was automatically suspended for the following game at Aston Villa, was seen protesting against the decision before going down the tunnel.
In a statement on Friday, the FA said: “Pedro Neto has been given a one-match suspension and a £70,000 fine for misconduct that occurred after he was sent off in Chelsea’s Premier League match against Arsenal on Sunday 1 March.
“It was alleged that the player acted in an improper manner by failing to leave the pitch promptly and/or using abusive words towards the match official/s following his dismissal in the 70th minute.
“Pedro Neto subsequently admitted the charge against him. An independent Regulatory Commission imposed these sanctions following a hearing, and the written reasons for its decisions will be published in due course.”
Neto is now banned for Chelsea’s game at home to Newcastle on Saturday but is also currently facing possible punishment from UEFA as well for pushing a ball boy during the side’s 5-2 defeat at Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League.
UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings into the altercation. There is a possibility it could be resolved before the second leg of their last 16 tie next week. A suspension is one of the options open to European football’s governing body.
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said earlier on Friday, before the FA decision on the Arsenal dismissal was announced, that Neto needs to learn from these experiences.
He said: “I’ve seen the (PSG) incident back now and it doesn’t look good in terms of … I understand Pedro’s perspective. He wants to get the ball back in play as quickly as possible. He wants to win for the club. There are ways you go about it.
“What I was so impressed with was for him, and it was his idea, to apologise straight away. Like I’ve just said, whether it’s a goalkeeper, whether it’s me as a manager or a player, we make mistakes. It’s about learning from those mistakes and making sure they don’t happen again.”
