The FA have launched an investigation into Milutin Osmajic’s ‘alleged’ bite on Liverpool loanee Owen Beck that took place in Preston’s goalless draw against Blackburn.
As you may have seen, Liverpool left-back Beck appeared to be bitten by Osmajic while playing for Blackburn in their tense local match-up with Preston on Sunday.
The Welshman was sent off in the 89th minute, shortly after the moment which saw the Preston man lean into his neck and bite Beck on camera.
The Mirror report that the FA have now launched an investigation into the incident.
While Beck was sent off for an earlier kick, Osmajic was only shown a yellow card for dissent, surely indicating the referee didn’t see what we could on TV.
For some context as to what kind of ban the Preston player could receive, we can look back at Luis Suarez’s punishments.
The Uruguayan’s first offence was in 2010, when he was banned for seven matches for biting PSV’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax.
He then repeated this in a Liverpool game against Chelsea, biting Branislav Ivanovic in 2013, after which he missed 10 games.
For his third offence, at the World Cup in 2014 where he sank his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini in a group-stage game between Uruguay and Italy, he was banned for nine international matches and all football-related activity for four months.
As it is his first offence, Osmajic is more likely to be given a consequence closer to what Suarez got at Ajax.
Owen Beck was “a bit shaken up”
Initially, Beck’s reaction to feeling a bite from behind was of shock and indignation. He immediately turned around to confront his opponent but was held back by teammate Makhtar Gueye.
The 22-year-old then protested to the nearby assistant referee, repeatedly saying, “he bit me” and “I’ve got a bite mark”, as well as showing the marks on his neck before giving the referee the same message.
After the match, his manager at Blackburn, John Eustace, said: “He’s got a big bite mark on the back of his neck. It’s a shame the referee didn’t see that as well. He has been in and shown the lads.
“He’s very disappointed to be sent off and you don’t expect him to have that either. He’s a bit quiet in there and a bit shaken up.
“I don’t know if he spoke to the referee. I’m not sure if it was before or after the red. He might want to speak to the officials about it.
“It’s a very serious incident, nobody likes to be bitten. Everyone is angry about it, it’s not a nice situation to be in. I’m sure the right people will see it and deal with it.”
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