Former England referee: 'Mitrovic deserves a 10-match ban'

"Such behavior cannot be tolerated in football," reads Halsey's article for The Sun. "He deserves a 10-match ban for acting crazy for 40 seconds in the second half."

In the 70th minute of the FA Cup quarter-final, when Fulham led Man Utd 1-0, Jadon Sancho tricked goalkeeper Bernd Leno and then shot into the empty goal. Willian blocked the ball with his hand on the goal line and after determining this error through VAR, referee Chris Kavanagh showed a red card to the Brazilian striker and gave Man Utd a penalty.

Mitrovic pushed the referee, immediately disqualified. The Serbian striker was frustrated, continued to surround Mr. Kavanagh and needed the intervention of players from both teams to calm the situation. Before that, coach Marco Silva was also disqualified from directing. With only nine players left, Fulham could not stand and lost 1-3 in reverse.

"I was surprised that Mr. Kavanagh had to go to VAR to make a decision," said former referee Halsey. "Marco Silva must have said something to make Kavanagh show the red card. Silva must be responsible for Mitrovic's behavior, because the coach needs to set an example for the players. The Football Association needs to take care of the referees, they need to deter by severely punishing Mitrovic".

Mark Halsey served as a referee in the English Premier League from 1999 to 2013. The 61-year-old former referee said that the two clubs Fulham and Man Utd should also be punished, for not being able to control the player. Mr. Halsey also praised referee Chris Kavanagh for his good control of emotions, when pressured by Fulham players.

Faced with a messy situation and received three red cards, Fulham played well and led the goal thanks to Mitrovic. But they lost the game after playing short of people and losing backwards. Man Utd reached the semi-finals and will face Brighton.