Izuchukwu OkosiThe Football Association on Monday evening announced that English Premier League champions Manchester City have been fined £120,000 after their players surrounded referee Simon Hooper in the 94th minute of their 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur earlier on December 3.
City players were incensed that the match referee elected to bring play back after initially giving an advantage after Brazilian defender Emerson Royal mistimed his tackle on Erling Haaland.
Haaland picked himself up and released Jack Grealish but the Hooper’s whistle halted the run of the England forward as he bore down on goal.
The atmosphere became tense following that action by the official which led to Haaland saying unprintable words and City manager Pep Guardiola animated on the dugout.
Haaland continued his vitriol attack on the officials with a post on X (formerly Twitter).
A statement from the Football Association on Monday read:
Manchester City FC have been fined £120,000 after their players surrounded a match official at the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 3 December, an FA statement read.
“Manchester City FC admitted that they failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper way during the 94th minute.
“An independent Regulatory Commission imposed this sanction following a hearing.”
City are currently in Saudi Arabia for the FIFA Club World Cup.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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