FA charges Pardew in wake of head-butt

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew faces the prospect of a lengthy touchline ban after being charged with "improper conduct" by the Football Association on Monday following his head-butt on Hull's David Meyler.

Significantly, the FA said "due to the serious violent and/or aggressive nature of the reported behavior this case has been designated as non-standard".

Pardew has until Thursday evening to respond to the charge.

A brief FA statement said: "Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been charged in relation to an incident in his side's game against Hull City on 1 March 2014.

"It is alleged that in the 72nd minute of the fixture, Pardew was involved in an incident with a Hull City player that amounted to improper conduct.

"Due to the serious violent and/or aggressive nature of the reported behavior this case has been designated as non-standard.

"Pardew has until 6 pm on Thursday 6 March 2014 to respond to the charge."

The Magpies boss was involved in the nasty altercation when he clashed with Meyler during Newcastle's 4-1 away Premier League win at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

Shortly before the statement from the FA, English soccer's governing body, Humberside Police said it would take no action against Pardew.

"Having reviewed the circumstances of the incident, it has been agreed that the matter will be dealt with by the FA rather than considering any criminal proceedings," the force said.

"While we appreciate that some people may have found the behavior displayed at the game on Saturday offensive, Humberside Police will not be taking any further action."

Pardew was fined 100,000 pounds ($167,000) by Newcastle, which stopped short of sacking the fiery Englishman.

"His behavior was unacceptable and is not the behavior we expect from the manager of Newcastle United," the club said in a statement.

Pardew, for his part, apologized afterwards and said: "It was a heat of the moment thing. I massively regret it.

"He was right on top of me and I wanted to just ease him away from me, but obviously I put my head in a forward motion.

"You can't do that."

(China Daily 03/05/2014 page23)