Five-match ban for Mings after Ibrahimovic stamp

Tyrone Mings has been banned for five matches following his clash with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Bournemouth’s match against Manchester United last Saturday.

The Football Association (FA) confirmed the defender’s punishment after an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Wednesday, infuriating Bournemouth who are “extremely disappointed”.

Mings appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic’s head towards the end of the first half and was charged with violent conduct by the FA, who recommended a stronger punishment for Mings when he and the United striker were charged on Monday.

The FA submitted a claim that a standard punishment would be “clearly insufficient” given the offence.

Bournemouth reacted angrily to the suspension in a statement which read: “Bournemouth are extremely disappointed with the FA Regulatory Commission’s decision to find Tyrone Mings guilty of the charges against him and impose a five-game suspension, following Saturday’s incident at Old Trafford involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“We will study the detailed reasons of the commission once they become available but find it extraordinary that the charges can be described as ‘proven’ when there is absolutely no evidence to prove the incident was intentional.

“It is our strongly held belief – backed up by our relationship with the player, and knowledge of his background and character – that it was an accidental collision.

“Tyrone twice apologised to Ibrahimovic during the match for the accidental collision and also reiterated that there was no intent straight after the final whistle in a series of television interviews.

“We fully support our player. Tyrone has an excellent disciplinary record and has not been sent off in 75 matches as a professional. During that time he has only received 13 yellow cards – the last of which came in April 2015.”

The club have released a statement following the suspension given to Tyrone Mings.

https://t.co/oTgr11h6tY#afcb pic.twitter.com/AmWTu86ZnO

— AFC Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth) March 8, 2017

Mings, 23, is due to miss Premier League matches against West Ham, Swansea City, Southampton, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Ibrahimovic was banned for three matches for elbowing Mings moments after the apparent stamp.

In a hugely contentious 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, those incidents were followed by Andrew Surman’s sending off for a second yellow card after shoving the former Sweden forward.

Ibrahimovic later missed a penalty and claimed after the match that Mings had “jumped into” his elbow as he tried to protect himself.

Mings insisted he would never deliberately stamp on another player after calls from United captain Wayne Rooney for him to be punished for the action.