The Premier League to monitor player goal celebrations and may consider imposing sanctions if they are deemed critical or mocking.
It may only consider imposing sanctions if they feel they are damaging the reputation of the game or could inflame opposition fans or players.
This is because some players have been criticised for celebrations with many feel crossed the line by mocking opponents.
Iliman Ndiaye was shown a yellow card after doing an impression of a seagull as a goal celebration for scoring Everton’s winner against Brighton.
No yellow was shown to Myles Lewis-Skelly who cheekily mocked Erling Haaland by doing his celebration and didn’t receive a punishment.
They would be calling for me to be locked up!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 VAR already taking away the celebrations and now this! Kmt https://t.co/mKmbybEDZK pic.twitter.com/D8ohr9IG7I
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) February 5, 2025
The Premier League’s chief football officer, Tony Scholes, said to Sky Sports: “There’s a balance. I think we all like to see celebrations. Some of the celebrations have been very funny, entertaining, but there’s a line.
“Once it crosses over into mockery or criticism then we would need to deal with it.”
Ex-Gunners player Theo Walcott praised Lewis-Skelly for his strength of character, saying: “He was not afraid of Haaland at all.”
But both Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher felt the celebration was disrespectful.
Are we expecting to see NFL style punishments, where players who imitate the shooting of weapons when celebrating face receive heavy post-match fines.
The likes of Phil Foden and Joshua Zirkzee have pretended to shoot with guns towards the crowd after scoring goals but received no punishment. Zirkzee has also been seen appeared to grab his crotch.
We’ve seen other celebrations that had players in hot water with governing bodies.
At last summer’s Euro 2024, Jude Bellingham was issued with a £25,000 fine and handed a suspended one-match ban for grabbing his crotch during England’s victory against Slovakia.
Cristiano Ronaldo was given a one-game ban for gesturing towards fans when playing for Al Nassr in 2024.
The same issue saw him fined €20,000 for imitating Diego Simeone’s ‘cojones’ celebration in 2019. Simeone had been given the same punishment as Ronaldo for his antics.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher was asked to explain the laws when it comes to booking players in these situations and why the referee would show a yellow card to Ndiaye who did thr seagull celebration.
“Inciting supporters,” he said, speaking on Ref Watch. “They are the Brighton fans, are you inciting them? [Ndiaye] would say it’s a bit of fun, football is there to be enjoyed. Is it necessary? For me, no. But for Tim [Robinson] he obviously felt it was.
“The thing I talk to young referees about is bear in mind that if you give someone a yellow card when you could avoid it you put yourself under pressure. Not just the player. Because when something happens later in the game you then have to deal with this.”
FA RULES:
CELEBRATION OF A GOAL
– Players can celebrate when a goal is scored, but the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting.
– Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not a cautionable offence but players should return as soon as possible.
A player must be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, for:
– climbing onto a perimeter fence and/or approaching the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues
– gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way
– covering the head or face with a mask or other similar item
– removing the shirt or covering the head with the shirt
DELAYING THE RESTART OF PLAY
Referees must caution players who delay the restart of play by:
– appearing to take a throw-in but suddenly leaving it to a team-mate to take
– delaying leaving the field of play when being substituted
– excessively delaying a restart
– kicking or carrying the ball away, or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the referee has stopped play
– taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake
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Twitter users reacted to reports that the Premier League are to monitor player goal celebrations and may consider imposing sanctions…
@xPinkyParkesx: @premierleague need to focus on the decisions of their incompetent officials, rather than investigate the celebrations of goal scorers. Utterly ridiculous! Banter is banter. Have they ever seen a boxing weigh-in? 🤣 @Carra23 @GNev2 @SkyFootball
@awaydaysshow: Now they are going to Monitor goal celebrations 😂
@AntOfArsenal: First, they came for corners, and now it’s goal celebrations
@danfotoman1: What’s the world coming to? Football players have to watch how they celebrate goals now because they will be punished if their goal celebrations could be seen as inflammatory… ffs
@skipjackToo: Now they’re going after goal celebrations 🤦🏻♂️
@Gdavey2: Ffs. Turning into the NBA. This is why we watch.
@CareyNicholas:Games well and truly gone
@cpaul_ffc: …crikey above
@BitsnThoughts: Players can hurt others with intent but if they don’t do something that can be interpreted is ‘mocking’, it’s fine. Priorities of the game are in the bin. Fans accepting the league destroying the game in front of eyes. Protested against the super league but docile otherwise
@littlebeef: What a joke. Taking any fun out of the game, it’s called banter you weirdos
@lawrence_bury: The slow removal of anything fun in football. Nothing wrong with Lewis-Skelly’s celebration
@owenmorris_: I thought it was quite cringey but to dish out a punishment for it is ridiculous 😂
@danholling: Unreal, its the Niasse diving thing all over again. 🤣🤣🤣
@gunnerpunner: Didn’t do anything on corners until Arsenal started doing routines. Now this. It’s weird and it’s targeted. It’s not actually the PL, it’s the obsessive media focus from a bunch of very specific people who all look and sound the same.
@AFC_Monty_: Hahahahaahahahhah get fucked you stupid corrupt twats.
@zpatrick0: Game is genuinely gone
@Birdiex94x: So you can slagged off by 50k fans for a game but how dare you shush the crowd. That’s crossing a line 🙄
@QuantK22: Nah man, I need everyone to take in what’s actually happening here. This is fucking insanity
@JackWood98_: Let’s just get rid of all fun in football shall we?
@ShrimptonJason: I wonder who will get done first 🤔👀
@mw_1878: game has never been more gone
@Kirkham81: Just take all the fun out of football why not

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