Exclusive: Burnley hero Flemming faces FA sanction over Blackburn controversy
01/06/2025 07:42 AM
Zian Flemming could face punishment for his celebration after helping Burnley to victory in their derby with Blackburn Rovers, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the attacker could find himself under scrutiny after crowd safety following his side’s win away at Ewood Park.
John Eustace has been the subject of some considerable speculation recently thanks to the work he has done with Blackburn this season, but he was unable to guide his side to a result against their local rivals on Saturday (4 January).
Now though it appears as though there may be some consequences for Burnley as well from their win, due to the way one of their players reacted to that win.
Zian Flemming under scrutiny over Burnley celebration vs Blackburn
In a game of few chances, it was Flemming who scored the only goal of the match when he headed in Bashir Humphreys’ cross on the hour mark to secure the win for Scott Parker’s side.
As Burnley celebrated after the match, footage emerged of the attacker removing one of the Blackburn corner flags and placing a Burnley shirt on top of it (Sky Sports).
The Dutchman then waved it in front of the away end, and with supporters from both team still in the ground, Hackett believes he may now face an investigation from the FA.
When asked by Football Insider if the Burnley matchwinner could find himself in the spotlight with the FA over that incident, the former referee said:
“Yeah you can understand his delight at winning and scoring the winning goal but I think his celebration is outside the remit of what is acceptable.
“I think if the FA pick up on this, sometimes they miss these things, but if they do pick up on it then they should take action.
“Because the whole aspect of crowd safety is linked with player behaviour, it’s to prevent any surges of the spectators moving forward and having crushing effects.
“This is why players who over-celebrate a goal are given a yellow card. So in this sense, if the referee’s seen it, he should action it.
“But if the FA’s seen it they could take action, rightly so, you can’t do that, even though he’s celebrating you just can’t do that.”
Following their win, Burnley are second in the Championship table one point behind league leaders Leeds United.
Blackburn meanwhile are seventh in the standings one point adrift of the play-off places.
In other news, a League One club are looking to re-sign a Burnley player.
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The post Exclusive: Burnley hero Flemming faces FA sanction over Blackburn controversy appeared first on Football Insider.
