(Manchester United News)
The Football Association issued the following statement at 17:30 GMT this evening (Thursday)...
Newcastle United’s Papiss Cisse and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans have both been charged by The FA following their game yesterday [Wednesday 4 March 2015].
The charges are in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the game the two players spat at each other.
The incidents were not seen by the match officials but caught on video.
Both players have until 6pm on Friday 6 March 2015 to respond to the charge.
In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by The FA to review the footage independently of each other and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.
For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the decision by the panel was unanimous in respect of both players.
