Soccer:QPR captain Joey Barton has accepted a charge of violent conduct against Manchester City's Sergio Aguero but denied the same charge for his confrontation with Vincent Kompany.
The 29-year-old’s future at QPR is in doubt after he elbowed Carlos Tevez, kicked Aguero and appeared to headbutt Kompany during Rangers’ 3-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Barton was given extra time to respond to the charges levelled against him and the English Football Association revealed tonight he has accepted only one of the violent conduct charges.
“Joey Barton has accepted an FA charge against him for violent conduct against Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero,” the FA statement read.
“The Queens Park Rangers player has denied a second charge of alleged violent conduct against Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany. The player has requested a personal hearing, the date of which has yet to be set.
“Both charges against Barton are in relation to Sunday’s match against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
“Following the player’s dismissal in the 54th minute of the fixture, there followed two incidents involving Aguero and Kompany.
“As Barton had already been dismissed, both of these incidents fell outside of the jurisdiction of the referee.”
The midfielder could start next season with a ban that runs into double figures for his sending-off and subsequent behaviour in QPR’s final game of the season.
He will receive an automatic four-match ban for what was his second dismissal of the season, and could receive three-match suspensions for each of the violent conduct charges.
Furthermore, the FA’s regulatory panel will have discretionary powers to further increase the length of the suspension if charges are found to be proven.
Barton claimed on Twitter that his violent actions were a cynical ploy to provoke a City player to be sent off, something the panel may well frown upon.
The midfielder insisted via Twitter that he had not lost his head but that a team-mate “suggested I should try to take 1 of theirs with me”.
Barton later apologised for his actions against City, but QPR announced earlier today that they will conduct an internal investigation into Barton’s dismissal at City and his subsequent conduct.
A club statement said: “Queens Park Rangers Football Club can confirm that a full investigation in relation to Joey Barton’s dismissal and subsequent events against Manchester City on Sunday will be carried out following the conclusion of his FA hearing. The club will be making no further comment at this stage.”
Reports yesterday suggested the west Londoners would consider trying to offload - or even sack - Barton, who has three years left to run on his contract.
