Norwich City man eligible to face Millwall despite FA sanction for what he did against QPR
Following the FA’s confirmation of Norwich City goalkeeper Angus Gunn’s punishment for his misconduct in the recent match against QPR, Gunn will be able to play against Millwall on Boxing Day.
The 28-year-old reportedly kicked the substitutes’ electronic scoreboard during halftime of the Championship match at Loftus Road on December 7, according to The Pink Un. Rayan Kolli scored in injury time in the first half to give QPR a 3-0 lead going into halftime.
Gunn has been slapped with a £4,500 fine for misconduct and a disciplinary panel decided that was sufficient punishment for the player. Gunn has been with Norwich City since 2021 and was formerly at Southampton and Stoke City
Norwich City teammate Kenny McLean had been handed a four match ban for violent conduct in the same fixture for an incident in the 24th minute. That moment was not spotted by officials but the suspension was imposed retrospectively.
McLean will serve the final game of that ban when Millwall visit Carrow Road on Boxing Day. He could return to face QPR at the end of the month when the R’s make the trip to Carrow Road.
Speaking after the match, Canaries head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup said: “If his behaviour was not good enough, then fine. We respect that, and we respect that if they need to take a decision.
But we also need to make very clear rules for what we can expect in this busy schedule, so it cannot happen on game days and if there are doubts or appeals going on or whatever then probably, as you see in some other countries, the player will play until there’s a decision being made.
“Let’s say, at some point it will happen to other clubs in the league and they will also feel the same thing. What can we expect? When will the player be out? Can we plan with him as in or not?
“That’s just fair play to all the teams in the league that we need to know, or at least as close to what we can expect. That’s the thing we need to clarify going forward in these matters.
“That means we don’t do anything that is not looking properly into the evidence because we have to take a decision before one day or whatever. It’s not only us blaming the federation. We also, as a club and as a team, need to look into those situations and those moments and how we can avoid them.”
Encouraged by their thrilling 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers last weekend, Millwall will travel to Norwich City this Saturday. QPR’s impending visit coincides with an outstanding turnaround in West London form under manager Marti Cifuentes; the R’s are now undefeated in their previous seven games.
