Barton Threatens To Sue!

03 January 2012 18:15
QPR captain Joey Barton has claimed he could sue over the red card he received against Norwich, which puts him on very dodgy ground.

QPR have confirmed they will appeal to the Football Association against Barton's dismissal in Monday's 2-1 home defeat.

It is understood the FA in turn are to seek observations from QPR over critical comments from director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam.

Barton got in a tussle with Bradley Johnson, and appeared to headbutt the Norwich midfielder, altough he said "I never moved my head forward".

Play continued before referee Neil Swarbrick consulted his assistant nearest to the incident and produced a red card.

Barton immediately used his Twitter account to launch an impassioned defence of what he viewed as a "ridiculous decision", claiming the match officials had been "conned".

"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.

"Or a player sues another player for playacting. Which is basically a lie and that is actionable. What's the difference?

"Someone has to set the precedent to stop the game from being ruined, maybe I'll be the 1st one. Can players sue referees?

"We have the best officiated game in the world on our doorstep (rugby). Why dont we stop listening to FIFA beaucrats [sic] and move our game forward?

"Referees would embrace all the technology available in my opinion. Game needs to move forward. Incidents like y'days would be cited and dealt with retrospectively if the officials, were unclear/unsure. I also feel it would lead to respect like rugby.

"Those 3 points yesterday, could be difference between Premier League survival and not. That equates to alot [sic] of money."

Norwich midfielder Johnson was pictured at the PDC World Darts Championship final on Monday night with a placard mocking the QPR captain. It read: "Barton, your breath stinks."

Barton responded in kind on Tuesday, as he said on Twitter: "Don't worry people I've seen Boris [sic] Johnson from Norwich with his sign at the darts. He's irrelevant really, absolute no mark."

Source: FOOTYMAD