Jonjo Shelvey charged by FA for violent conduct


Swansea's Jonjo Shelvey has been charged with violent conduct, the Football Association has announced.
Shelvey clashed with Liverpool's Emre Can in Swansea's 4-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Anfield on Monday night when he appeared to fling back an arm into the face of the German defender, but the incident went unpunished at the time with referee Andre Marriner waving play on.
"Swansea City's Jonjo Shelvey on Tuesday has been charged by The FA for violent conduct, following an incident in his side's fixture with Liverpool," said an FA statement.
"The incident, which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video, occurred during the fixture between the two sides at Anfield on Monday 29 December 2014.
"Shelvey has until 6pm on Wednesday 31 December 2014 to respond to the charge."
If found guilty, Shelvey, who was sent off at Everton at the start of November, could face a four-match ban, starting at QPR on New Year's Day.
Swansea manager Garry Monk had said earlier on Tuesday that Shelvey should escape disciplinary action after seeing footage of the incident on the way home from Liverpool.
"There was a motion towards the player, but it's not clear," Monk said.
"I spoke to Jonjo on the way home and he said his intention was not to catch the player at all.
"He said the player was tugging on him and he was just trying to push him away from him to move it.
"I don't think it was an intentional elbow at all and the referee was perfectly placed.
"No-one had a better view of the incident than him. He felt it didn't warrant any more action and the game went on.
"There were no complaints from any of the players afterwards, so you have to trust the referee made the right decision - and we thought that he did."
Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling will not face retrospective action for pushing Swansea defender Federico Fernandez in the face after tangling with the Argentinian defender in the closing stages of the game.
The Football Association confirmed to Press Association Sport on Tuesday evening that the incident was seen by at least one of the match officials at Anfield so no further action would be taken.