I hope that today brings some relief for the families of the 96 fans that didn't come home that fateful day.

Hear hear.


Sue Hemming, head of the special crime and counter terrorism at the CPS:



Following the inquest’s determinations the CPS team will continue to work closely with Operation Resolve and the IPCC as in due course, the CPS will formally consider whether any criminal charges should be brought against any individual or corporate body based upon all the available evidence, in accordance with the code for Crown Prosecutors.

We would ask that everyone is mindful of the continuing investigations and the potential for future criminal proceedings when reporting or publicly commenting on the inquest’s conclusions.

Will the FA throw the book at the young player of the year and future England star

.... or will they bottle it?

What would 'bottling it' have to do with it? What do they have to fear exactly?

Well they bottled giving Alan Shearer the ban he deserved after kicking Neil Lennon in the head in 1998, with Shearer threatening to pull out of World Cup squad if they did. The situations are different though as Alli has made no such threats, Shearer was more important and established than Alli so had more leverage, and the FA is probably run by completely different people now. There's a vague similarity of an England player doing something they shouldn't have done late in the season before a big tournament but that's really it.

Pretty sure he'll get a 3-gamer. Reminds me of the last game of last season where Abel Hernandez punched Phil Jones and that was his punishment - http://giant.gfycat.com/BadSentiment...hwaterclam.gif

The reports suggesting it was a thump are laughable. Even Yacobs didn't have the nerve to go to the floor in feigned agony. His nudge back was more violent, not to mention his earlier "tackles" and pushes.

Alli will probably get into trouble, and he has shown before he is liable to retaliate. He's being wound up, and will have to learn, but far too much is being made of what was nothing more than a light flick.

I agree that it was fairly harmless in the overall scheme of things but at the end of the day it was violent conduct and the correct course of action should have been a red card at the time and a three match ban but since the former didn't happen the latter should still be enforced

I just don't know why he was so stupid though, even if these things often happen on the spur of the moment. Only last week Spurs were pretty much celebrating a potential lifeline with a Vardy ban and saying how crucial it was in the race, and then Spurs' second best player goes and does something which will probably rule him out for the season? Lunacy

If the rules apply, and that is classed as violent, he will be banned, but common sense has got lost in the interpretation of such things. Yacobs deliberate push into him, which was the final trigger for the retaliation was more violent.

Spur of the moment reactions have always happened on a football field, and always will. Zidane headbutting someone in a WC Final was lunacy. If he'd had a reasoned thought process, he wouldn't have done that.

Walker had a kick out at someone, which was more violent, and we see far worse in penalty areas at every free kick, and corner.

Yacobs did him a favour by not over-reacting

Cant see such goodwill being handed out in a major tournament such as the Euros

(don't mention Bilic !)

Part of me thinks a warning would suffice as it wasn't that bad and part of me thinks a really stiff punishment will stop a repeat

Walker could of been sent off as well for kicking out.

That was a worse reaction than Alli's. Alli had been wound up, and he responded with a very light pat, not a punch.

"He raised his hand" is something we hear so often, and the actual context of it is ignored. We see far worse in terms of kicks, and bad tackles that dont get the same outrage.

He'd have done him a bigger favour by not keep kicking and pushing him. If he'd gone down after that light touch, he'd have been a laughing stock. Plenty of others have done it though, and dont seem to care about being caught cheating.

Dele Alli's being charged with violent conduct. Doesn't say how long he'll be out for but says it could be the rest of the season, so it'll probably be the usual 3-match ban. The correct decision I think. Some people want more for some reason, but three matches is fair since it's the usual punishment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/...linkname=sport

It was not a light pat it was a hefty enough strike and definitely a sending off offence. I don't care what Yacob did two wrongs don't make a right


Yeah, 3 matches is perfect. Definitely doesn't warrant more

I have no idea why I missed the punch, but I did. However, I do remember what I posted in this thread very early on Six minutes gone and Yacob already playing like a headless chicken determined to be sent off. Perhaps Alli needs a ban, so that he learns quickly he shouldn't allow himself to be goaded by players of limited ability like Yacob, especially when he is likely to be playing for his country in tournaments.

Yeah, and at this stage he will certainly be targeted at the Euros

The last thing England need is their tournament put in jeopardy by a loose cannon who can't keep his temper. Maybe this ban will do a bit of good in that regard if he can learn his lesson

Pleased to hear it, 3 match ban would be right. Did he think he was in a boxing ring?

If you think what he did was a punch worthy of a boxing ring, I'm not sure what sort of boxing you watch.

Yacob was intent on goading him, yet he is portrayed as the victim. You probably missed the punch, because it wasn't really one. It was a light waft, done in frustration.

Alli has been reacting to such provocation, and maybe this will do him some good long term. We've had Rooney, Gascoigne, Best and Beckham, among others targetted this way, and they got into trouble too. It's a shame those that think they can target them like this get away with it.

Why wouldn't you goad someone though if you know they'll react? Up to the officials to stop you. Sure it's not very nice but can't blame someone from doing it if it will certainly antagonise a key player from the opposition. I'm sure Kane gets it all the time but you won't catch him reacting like that

I think your view is being completely clouded by club loyalties, I'd definitely wager you'd be singing off a different hymn sheet if Mahrez, vardy or whoever did similar

Objectively (in the spirit of the thread ) I don't know how anyone can seriously argue it was a "light waft".

We have a different opinion of what a punch is if you think that was a hefty one.

I dont like players reacting like this, but I can sometimes understand it. The players I mentioned above all did it, and many more besides. It's wrong, and they get punished, but it annoys me that those who provoke such things always get away with it.

Why would my opinion be different if it was Mahrez? I dont like this kind of behaviour, along with other forms of cheating, such as diving, simulation etc. I suppose Yacob didn't do that, which would have been embarrassing for him, but plenty of others would. Imagine Drogba, he'd have needed an ambulance such would have been his distress over that mighty strike upon him.

I remember George Best getting far worse, because the "dirty bastards" of that time (as he called them), were allowed to get away with much more, and he frequently found himself in trouble for reacting.

The game needs to protect these type of players, and deal properly with the tactics of Yacob types. I appreciate retaliation has to be punished, but so should the instigators. Yacob was at Alli from the start, and a yellow early on may have steadied him up.

And if you think it wasn't a punch then maybe Specsavers might be worth a visit

It dosent matter how hard a punch it was but whether the panel of 3 ex refs think it was violent conduct that would have been given a red card if the ref had seen it.

Anyone watching the City match on BT Sport via Virgin Media ?

are you getting intermittent picture freeze and juddering ?......

Despite all the pundits on the radio saying 0-0 isn't a bad score, it is !

I reckon City need to win by 2-0 to have any chance of going through