FA will investigate Richarlison 'flare'-throwing incident

Richarlison didn't try and throw the flare back in the crowd, he tried to throw it out of the ground over a section with very few people in it.

It was stupid, but no more stupid than Kai Havertz shoving Mina.

The flare “incident” appears to be something which Redshite supporters are talking up. It is clearly an attempt to get Richarlison banned for a few matches when we need him most.

They really are scum.

Personally, I’m sorry the filthy van Dickhead ever played again.

If Richarlison would have thought that flare was dangerous then I don’t think he would have held it in his hands for so long. Look at the picture – it’s brilliant, it’s iconic, and it just summed up what it was like, inside and outside Goodison Park yesterday.

If he doesn’t get a three-match ban, it’s a conspiracy? Wow!

Who gives a flying fuck what Keith Hackett says? Any action by the FA will confirm, if any were needed, the conspiracy theories against our club.

Nothing will come of this. It's one of the images of the season and has cemented Ricarlison's position in Everton folklore. Assuming we stay up of course.

It's not like he tried to burn down the Liver Buildings, or threw it at the windows of a rival team's coach is it? Now that would definitely be deemed worthy of action, wouldn't it?

Excuse my ignorance, but I've always assumed a “flare” and “smoke canister” were different.

I don't think either should be picked up or thrown but, in my experience, a flare has flames, shoots things into the air while a smoke canister just gives off smoke. I'm not trying to split hairs, just thought there is a difference between them.

Phill you are spot on but that doesn't meet the drama queen media narrative though does it.

More proof that people want us gone.

If Richarlison is suspended, we're fucked.

I’m expecting a ban here. The line from Everton that he was trying to chuck it out the ground isn’t going to wash and if being honest, it was a moment of madness. Fans get banned for chucking stuff all the time and I think this is the line they’ll take - not advocating a ban by the way but will be surprised if he doesn’t get one...

Jim Lloyd, while I don't condone anything being thrown on to the pitch, I am worried that it will be the accepted narrative that it was a flare. A flare and a smoke bomb are not the same thing in terms of their ability to cause physical harm.

Fuck 'em.

Step up, Sol and Dom. We can still do it without Richarlison.

Rent a gob Keith Hackett in March:

“Keith Hackett has suggested Harvey Elliott will be fined by the FA for celebrating with a flare after helping Liverpool win the League Cup”. In the event the FA “contacted” him.

He retired as a ref. nearly 30 years ago, don't why he's asked his opinion.

It will be determined on the laws of the game.

Offences where an object is thrown

In all cases the ref is to take disciplinary action.

Reckless - caution the player for unsporting behaviour

Using excessive force - send off the player for violent conduct

Violent conduct is when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team mate, match official or spectator regardless of wether contact is made.

I think it could be interpreted either way but in mitigation the referee saw the incident and took no action and Richarlison appears to be throwing the smoke grenade towards the unoccupied area by the video screen or even out of the ground.

There was clearly no intent to throw it at one of our supporters. I think it will be judged as reckless as opposed to violent conduct.

There's something strange about Hackett - wants people punished all the time. Why don't they ask Clive Thomas?

Adrenaline fuelled heat of the moment reaction, no harm intended and no harm done. He will get a warning to not do it again and that will be the end of it.

I agree it’s the iconic image of our season, it captures the spirit of our fighting response to the threat of relegation.

The referee spoke to him at length on the way back to the centre circle, so I guess that's in his favour.

My take is as per Graham - the smoke bomb wasn't thrown at the away end, so no malicious intent. It hit the perimeter wall and bounced back in, so the intention appeared to get rid of a nuisance (low-danger) object. The outcome was not as intended, with the object bouncing back into the ground rathet than out. The ref saw the incident and took no action. Move on.

And evetybody wear their old flares at the next match.

Keith Hackett - dinosaur ex-head Gobshite of Gobshites. If he wants to see what violent conduct looks like, he should come discuss his ridiculous “sporting ban” views with real fans.

Richarlison needs to be advised it was daft and asked to leave stuff to stewards. End.

Doubt one single person at the ground lodged a complaint. Not one bit of malice in Richarlison's action.

Totally driven by the media and RS supporters living in London, Oslo, Mumbai and Brighton.

The FA will do whatever they do but hopefully they'll also look at the actions of the Leeds supporters who pelted the City players all game without any action, surely encouraging more dangerous objects being thrown.

I wonder what that useless twat Hackett has to say about that?

This is unbelievable. Yet believable given the way our season has gone.

My Burnley mates are already salivating at the thought of him being banned, and so they should. He would be a massive loss.

Although I, like many others, prefer him in a wider position he was still an absolute Warrior for us yesterday. And not for the first time, either.

Hopefully it'll just be a Slap on the Wrist and that'll be the end of it.

This is gonna be a tasty piece of meat for the media outlets to chew on - lots of clickbait, lots of phone-ins and column inches.

And i've got a bad feeling about this.

I also think its worth remembering that Frank L is still under obligation to provide clarification of his statements about the ref, Salah, the RS darlings from the Derby.

The FA can choose to really stick the boot in here. My head and heart are both saying that they will choose to do so.

Whether it will break us, or galvanise whats left of the team I don't know.

Its already backs against the wall, alamo style as it is. One thing for sure is that when the team is at our place, the crowd has got to make it an absolute bear pit of an place to play football. There's pride in that team, not as much as would like to see, but with us behind them at our snarling best then maybe we can do whats needed DESPITE the fkn FA, VAR, and SKY 6

He picked up a flare which shouldn't be on the pitch, threw it to an area where there was no fans, ref had a word in his ear, that should be the end of it.

The FA have treated us disgracefully and should hold their heads in shame over some of the decisions this season.

Regarding the flare; from where I was, it looked like Richarlison was just concerned to get it off the pitch – don't think he threw it towards the crowd, more towards the empty space?

Anybody else made the Richarlison picture they’re screensaver today?

I'm expecting Lampard, when asked, as he inevitably will be, to say something along the lines of:

"As far as I'm aware, Richarlison simply picked up an object that shouldn't have been on the pitch & threw it into an empty area with the intention of it being in a safe zone away from the field of play. It did cross my mind that he could be at risk of a yellow card if the referee deemed his action to be reckless. However, the referee then had a long chat with him, so was fully aware of what had occurred, and decided to take no further action. I have every confidence in the referee's judgement – as always!"

A player who showed as much passion as the adoring fans he was representing.

Anthony Gordon and Richalison are divers.

Salah and Grealish are targeted and fouled a lot.

We live in an increasingly outraged society so it often comes down to where you feature in the eyes of the media.

Those loveable cousins and their "passion" when they attacked the Manchester City coach.

The Bootle spit monster who got a token suspension before getting his job back. My mother always taught me that spitting at someone was one of the worst things you can do. So I've never done it.

Now there is outrage because a player celebrated a very important goal.

My question is would there be the outrage if it was Salah or would they be lauding his passion and connection with the supporters?

Brian Denton, Si,

Do you think the FA are going to be all legalistic and agree with you two that it wasn't really dangerous? Don't be daft. We've had the only man ent off for "Diving"; we've had penalties ignored by refs; we've had non-penalties given against us.

I wouldn't trust the FA to see it as you both evidently do.

Jamie, tried to get the after match NBC clip you've put up, but the video won't show. I'll take your word mate, that they really showed Evertonians in a true light, good for them, put our TV stations to shame.

Anyway... which total arsehole threw that flare onto the pitch??? Do they not realise the effin FA or Premier League will take any excuse to dock us points.

Brilliant supporters, great response from the team.

We can't do anything about what's gone before we can do what we do well and support our team... without the effin flares on the pitch... Knobhead!

Who did Carragher throw the coins at, Shane, Liverpudlians or opposing fans?

Richarlison had no malice, he was just taking part in the marvellous scenes that celebrated his goal, and it’s something that will be remembered by me for the rest of my life as something that was fantastically joyful! 💙

Jim, you are probably right but it does no harm to make the point. I notice on social media that 'smoke bomb' is increasingly being used.

Tony Abrahams above makes the case more eloquently than me!

Tony, Carragher threw the coin into the home crowd at Highbury after it had hit him. Unfortunately he did injure a member of the public but escaped with the suspension for the red card and an internal club fine.

Just so we know that we can expect no punishment for Richarlison……………..

Harvey Elliott: Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool midfielder made mistake with flare

Hey Rob, thanks for sharing that. I know it was tongue-in-cheek but there are two different rules here, one for the Sky darlings and one for the rest.

We have not had anything go our way this season, not a frickin' bean. For those reasons, I expect a ban.

It was iconic and of course harmless but I thought at the time, he is a fool for throwing it into the stands.

This is Everton, there are agendas against us, we can't give them any opportunity, not right now.

So hopefully, we can make a statement that Richarlison made a mistake Rob and the FA will write to us.

But if the BBC are involved, I'll hold my breath.

They have been trying to run the country for the last 4 years and are still sulking over Brexit. They are the media equivalent of Kopites. Always outraged, never embarrassed.

Flare/smoke bomb/ mustard gas shell. It's all semantics really. The FA will probably send Richarlison to The Hague.

Let's hope we will be okay with this one. Lampard is already taking it to the media and pointing out double standards it may stick.

I am still gobsmacked that the Allan red card was upheld on appeal, so we never know do we ?

Let's hope we will be okay with this one. Lampard is already taking it to the media and pointing out double standards it may stick.

I am still gobsmacked that the Allan red card was upheld on appeal, so we never know do we ?

Gary Jones is spot on: Richarlison didn't try to throw the flare into the crowd. I sit in the Bullens Road opposite the church; he threw it towards that corner. If it had been towards the crowd, it would have been a different story.

People just want to make everything negative and try and spoil our day. They can try but it won't bring me down off cloud 9 – nothing could. I am so elated – what a day!!

The media have really got it in for us. They make out that we are Atletico Madrid and Millwall supporters rolled into one. Why? Who is prompting them to do this?

Yesterday, the BBC reporter interviewing Tuchel asked him if Everton's "dark arts" had unsettled his team? What the Fuck!!

Have none of these teams ever wasted time? Never gained a penalty with a dive? Got another team's player sent off by play-acting? Tried to deliberately take the other team's best player out early doors? Had 7 minutes added to a game for sod all? Hypocrites the lot of them.

Keep it going, Blues – they don't like it up 'em!!!

The picture of Richarlison with the smoke thingy (not a flare or firework) will adorn many a bedroom wall – and rightly so. Pickford's save was up there with anything Southall ever did – and believe me, that is praise indeed. COYBs!!!!!!

How many games is Ronaldo getting for attacking a fan?

If the dinosaur dicks do impose a ban, the club should tell the FA to fuck off and play him anyway. I really do hate the FA, Sky and the refs – they all need taking down… utter scum. 😡

Clearly throws it toward the corner and out of the ground. Nothing to see here.

If they do ban Richarlison and we go down, the bitterness will last longer than Tonypandy.

I’ll be relieved when the ‘investigation’ is over and Richarlison gets a “Don’t do it again” warning, but I am worried it could be a ban. The ref went up to him after the incident and had a word. Maybe would have been better if the ref had of booked him. That might of satisfied the FA ?

Ronald's phone-gate is far worse. Ban Richy, then Ronaldo should get Community Service

El Bobble reporting that it will be a fine and warning.

Daily Express reporting today the police have asked the club for details and the FA have ''paused'' their investigation. If this report is true and the police are satisfied no serious offence was committed, that would take pressure off the FA.

Could someone help me out here? I missed the Chelsea game, I was on holiday.

In the Press now, Richarlison allegedly ‘hurled a flare into the stand’ or crowd depending on which crooked journalists you read. On MotD, it looks like the gap by the church. Where did he throw it? I mean the smoke bomb – not flare.

Hi Ray,

Sorry, I moved your post here as this thread provides a lot of background and response to this Richarlison incident.

It seems the latest is that The Merseyside Police are looking into the incident and that the FA will not make any decision on any punishment until their investigation is complete. All else is speculation and clickbait.

Michael 50

I had to laugh when I read that Merseyside Police are looking into the incident, would that be the same Merseyside Police who had officers standing next to Liverpool supporters who threw bottles and cans at the Man City coach, and no arrests were made. I have to be honest and say why anybodys first thought is its the match today I will have to make sure I have got my flares with me baffles me. But I am of an age when as youngsters were used to seeing rattles at games, but it seems having flares at games is now the norm, certainly our neighbours have been taking them to games for a few years.

I think it may result in a fine or a warning, as it was an on field matter that the ref saw and decided no action was needed. Now if he hadn't seen the incident then maybe they may have been able to issue more than a fine or a warning.

Not wishing to tempt fate but it's 12 days since 'flaregate' and no word from the police or FA. Are they waiting till the season ends to avoid any ban potentially affecting the relegation situation?