Wilfried Zaha’s appeal against an additional one-match ban and £10,000 fine for sarcastically applauding the referee after a red card at Southampton has been rejected by an independent regulatory commission. He misses Crystal Palace’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Doncaster on Sunday.
Zaha had tussled with the Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse on the touchline late in the 1-1 draw at St Mary’s Stadium last month. The referee, Andre Marriner, opted against sanctioning the home player but booked the Palace forward and showed him a second yellow card seconds later for applauding the decision.
It was Zaha’s first dismissal in almost seven years and saw him banned for the win against Fulham a few days later. The FA charged him with improper conduct for continuing his sarcastic applause before he departed the pitch.
Zaha admitted the charge but he and the club felt the additional sanction was too severe, prompting his appeal.
The Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey will contest his FA charge for allegedly making a Nazi salute during a meal with teammates in January. He took to social media after the incident to claim he had been making an innocent gesture that was taken out of context, saying he “waved and shouted at the person taking the picture to get on with it” and “put my hand over my mouth to make the sound carry”.
