The Women’s Super League (WSL) saw a controversial and highly debated moment recently, as a confrontation between Manchester United’s Ella Toone and Tottenham Hotspur’s Eveliina Summanen led to Toone’s ejection from the match. After a lengthy investigation and an independent hearing, Summanen was suspended for two matches due to her part in convincing referees to eject Toone.
The incident occurred near the end of the match between Tottenham and Manchester United on February 12th. Toone was seen shoving Summanen’s shoulders back down to the pitch after a brief confrontation. Shortly after, Summanen grabbed her face dramatically as if she had been struck there. Manchester United manager Marc Skinner called Summanen’s actions “play acting”, and the FA later found that Summanen had committed a “successful deception of a match official”, which “amounts to improper conduct”.
As a result, Summanen was issued a two-match suspension and will miss an FA Cup match against Reading on February 26th and a WSL game at Manchester City on March 5th. Tottenham are “very disappointed” and “shocked” by the Summanen’s suspension, and she has denied the charge.
Manchester United, however, were relieved by the FA’s decision and will now enjoy the availability of Toone for the upcoming matches. Speaking in a Wednesday news conference, Skinner said he was pleased with the FA’s decision and expanded on his comments to seemingly address Toone’s decision to push Summanen.
“Just so we’re very clear, we still talk about our actions and what our responsibilities are within our actions, everything’s always going to be about education for our players and it’s our responsibility within that,” he said. “But the right decision has been made and it’s been upheld by the FA and by an advisory board so for us it felt that it was the right decision at the time and now it’s been vindicated to be.”
The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of fair play and respect for fellow players and match officials on the pitch. While some may argue that the punishment was too harsh for Summanen, the FA’s decision has been upheld and the incident should be seen as a learning opportunity for all involved.
