Everton have appealed Oumar Niasse’s two-game suspension for diving following retrospective action for the forward after he won a penalty for the Blues during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
The forward was found guilty of successful deception of a match official by the new three-person panel that was set up by the Football Association to review potential incidents from a weekend’s play over the summer.
During Saturday’s game, Niasse drew contact from Scott Dann as he broke into the Palace 18-yard box and went down inside the box.
The English centre-half pushed his arm across the forward’s chest causing Niasse to fall out of his stride. The contact from Dann was minimal but a number of replays showed there was indeed contact.
Referee Anthony Taylor was in perfect position, directly behind the foul, to award the penalty. Leighton Baines put the spot-kick away to draw the Blues level before Niasse later scored the visitor’s second equaliser at Selhurst Park.
The incident was reviewed by a three-person panel made up of an ex-match official, an ex-manager and an ex-player on Monday morning, where they came to a unanimous agreement on simulation and an FA charge.
With the chance to contest the two-game suspension, the Blues have done just so. The decision of whether or not the striker does pick up a retrospective ban will be decided by an independent panel, where Niasse is expected to discover his fate on Thursday.
Implementation of new rules
Niasse is the first Premier League player to suffer action from the new simulation rules that were introduced over the summer.
The FA now allows dives and divers to be retrospectively banned for their conduct during games if their simulation leads to a penalty being awarded or an opposition player being sent off.
Manchester City winger Bernardo Silva and Watford's Brazilian forward Richarlison have both avoided charges this season for potential acts of simulation to win a spot-kick for their respective side.
Bristol City defender Bailey Wright was one of the first players to be suspended for two games under the new rules after earlier this month being found guilty of simulation during a Sky Bet Championship game.
The former Preston North End man went down during an off-the-ball incident with Fulham forward Aboubakar Kamara, whose red card for the clash was later rescinded after being reviewed by the new three-person FA panel.