It’s safe to say that Everton fans are not big fans of the Premier League – and one claim has not left supporters stunned.
A couple of weeks ago, Everton took on Brighton in the top-flight.
After beating Tottenham Hotspur, Everton were looking to make it back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
And David Moyes managed to do that, with Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty the difference between the two sides on the south coast.
But there was a little bit of controversy following the penalty from Ndiaye, because the Senegal international mimicked Seagull with his celebration.
Brighton’s nickname, of course, is the Seagulls, and referee Tim Robinson issued Ndiaye with a yellow card, having deemed his celebration to be provocative.
Now, following what Ndiaye did, the Premier League are considering making a rule change.
Premier League to ‘consider imposing sanctions’ on provocative goal celebrations
According to Sky Sports today, the Premier League will monitor player celebrations and could consider imposing sanctions if they feel they are ‘damaging the reputation of the game or could inflame opposition fans or players’.
This claim comes after Ndiaye got booked for his seagull celebration. But there have also been other instances of potentially provocative celebrations in recent times.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy – notorious for winding opposition fans up – has mimicked an eagle when scoring against Crystal Palace.
And Phil Foden and Joshua Zirkzee have both pretended to fire guns at opposition fans, although they received no punishment.
Everton fans react
Everton fans couldn’t quite believe Ndiaye got booked for his celebration against Brighton. Especially because this kind of thing does often go unpunished.
Even some Brighton fans were left amused by Ndiaye’s celebration. But clearly, this is something the Premier League are looking to now stamp out.
And that has left a lot of fans unhappy on social media, with many feeling the powers that be are stripping the soul out of the game.
What has been said about the potential Premier League goal celebration rule change?
Tony Scholes is the Premier League’s chief football officer, and has been quoted regarding the proposal to sanction players who do inflammatory celebrations.
He said (via Sky Sports): “There’s a balance. I think we all like to see celebrations. Some of the celebrations have been very funny, entertaining, but there’s a line.
“Once it crosses over into mockery or criticism then we would need to deal with it.”
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