QPR captain Joey Barton’s appeal against his sending off during Monday’s 2-1 defeat by Norwich has been dismissed by the FA, who have confirmed the former Newcastle midfielder will serve a three match suspension with immediate effect, according to BBC Sport.
Barton, who had earlier given Rangers the lead, was dismissed during the first half of the match for violent conduct after an off the ball altercation with Canaries player Bradley Johnson. The 29-year-old and his manager Neil Warnock both claimed that the officials were “conned” into dishing out the red card, and Barton claims that he was later told by officials that they hadn’t seen the incident. This has led to Barton calling for technology to be introduced to football. He said on Twitter: “I wonder how long it is before a football club sues a referee for making a bad decision? There’s too much at stake to not have technology.
“Those three points yesterday could be the difference between Premier League survival and not. That equates to a lot of money. Why don’t we stop listening to Fifa bureaucrats and move our game forward? Referees would embrace all the technology available in my opinion. Rugby L/U is the best model.”
The sending off marked the fifth of Barton’s controversial career, though this was the first time he has seen red since moving to Loftus Road from St. James’ Park in the summer. Among his three match suspension is Rangers’ trip to his former club Newcastle on January 15.
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