Referee David McNamara has been suspended for three weeks after accepting a charge of “not acting in the best interests of the game” before a Women’s Super League match.
A Football Association spokesperson confirmed that McNamara will return to duty from December 17th.
The FA said McNamara did not oversee an official coin toss, which is required under the laws of the game, before Manchester City faced Reading last month in the WSL.
It is understood that McNamara, after leaving his coin in the dressing room, had City captain Steph Houghton and Reading skipper Kirsty Pearce play a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would kick-off.
“The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from Monday November 26th, after accepting a charge of ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’, an FA spokesperson said.
“This follows an incident in the WSL match between Manchester City and Reading on Friday October 26th, when he failed to determine which team would kick off the match by the toss of a coin, as required by the laws of the game.
“McNamara will return to duty from Monday December 17th.”
