Prokas warned over horror tackle

Graham Bean, the Football Association's 'enforcer', will travel to Carlisle tomorrow to officially warn Richard Prokas for his two-footed lunge on Arsenal star Patrick Vieira.

The FA cannot fine or ban Prokas because referee Steve Lodge decided not to take any action for the tackle during Arsenal's 1-0 FA Cup third-round win at Brunton Park on Saturday.

Although Lodge admitted after the game that he had made a mistake, the FA's video review panel cannot step in and charge Prokas because they are only allowed to intervene when referees miss incidents picked up by television.

But FA officials were so shocked by the severity of the challenge, which broke the French midfielder's shin pad in two, that they have decided to give the Carlisle player a severe dressing down.

At a meeting tomorrow, Bean, the FA's compliance officer, will warn Prokas that if he steps out of line in future he will face severe action.

A spokesman for the FA said: "We cannot take any disciplinary action against him because the incident was seen by the referee, who decided at the time not to book him or send him off.

"But we are concerned to make it abundantly clear to Richard that while we are not in a position to pass this on to our video advisory panel, we do not condone his actions on Saturday.

"We never expect to see that kind of tackle, from him or any other player in English football. There's simply no place for it."

It is not the first time Bean has met with a player to warn them on their conduct. In October 1999, he caused controversy when he demanded a meeting with David Beckham to talk about the England midfielder's hot headed on-field conduct.

He has also issued severe warnings to persistent offenders like Crystal Palace's Neil Ruddock and West Ham's Paolo Di Canio without charging them with misconduct.

Under pressure from the FA, Carlisle manager Ian Atkins is understood to have already disciplined Prokas. The player has also apologise for his reckless tackle.

A statement issued by the club said: "Richard Prokas would like to publicly state that he regrets the incident last Saturday and certainly did not intend to injure Patrick Vieira.

"He regards Vieira as the best midfield player in the Premiership and particularly admires his competitive qualities in these circumstances.

"However, Richard accepts that his challenge for the ball was mistimed and would like to publicly apologise to Patrick.

"At the same time, he will be seeking to privately speak with Patrick to offer him his personal apologies and best wishes for the future."

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger today admitted he was bemused by the FA's decision not to charge Prokas. He said: "I don't know what the rule is any more. I don't know when the FA have to charge a player and when they don't.

"If you charge Patrick for what happened against Leeds, then you have to charge this player for what happened on Saturday.

"I don't want to say there is one law for Patrick and one law for the rest. I don't want to make him a special case - Patrick is strong enough to cope with that - but I don't understand why they charge Patrick after the referee has seen and judged the incident and they don't charge the player who got Patrick.

"This is not a campaign to get the Carlisle player charged. I just want to keep the credibility of this kind of panel. For the credibility of the FA, it is important they have the same thing for everybody."

Vieira must face the FA later this month after he was seen to clash with Leeds players during Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Elland Road.

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