Wickham charged with violent conduct

The Football Association (FA) has charged Connor Wickham with violent conduct after the Crystal Palace striker clashed with Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen on Saturday.

Midway through the second half of Palace’s 3-1 Premier League defeat at Selhurst Park, Wickham appeared to swing an elbow at the Spurs defender inside a busy penalty area.

No action was taken at the time by referee Martin Atkinson, but the FA issued a statement on Monday confirming that Wickham had been charged.

“Connor Wickham has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video,” the statement read.

“The Crystal Palace forward was involved in an incident with Tottenham Hotspur’s Jan Vertonghen in the 69th minute of the game on Saturday [23 January 2016].

“The matter was referred to a panel of three former elite referees who each reviewed the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they considered it a sending-off offence.

“For an FA charge to follow the decision by the panel must be unanimous.

“The player has until 6pm on Tuesday 26 January 2016 to reply to the charge.”