Neville and Bellamy Escape Potential Punishment From FA

During the Manchester Derby on Sunday September 20, 2009, multiple antics occurred during the match.

These antics included two incidents involving fans, the first of which consisted of a fan throwing a coin that hit Manchester City's Javier Garrido and was believed to be thrown at Carlos Tevez.

The second fan related incident was when a fan invaded the pitch after Craig Bellamy scored the tying goal, in which Bellamy went over to the fan and smacked him in the face.

One final incident that happened was after the Michael Owen goal at the end of the match which gave Manchester United a 4-3 win, in which United substitute Gary Neville was seen running down the side of the pitch at City fans, which rekindled memories of an Emmanuel Adebayor celebration in front of Arsenal supporters that caused Adebayor to be suspended for three matches.

After all three of these incidents, the FA started an investigation into the matter on September 21, and on September 22, they made their decision on what should happen to all parties involved.

For the coin toss that hit Garrido, the FA stated that they and Manchester United would look into the matter and find the person who threw the object, and the person who did this will face a ban from football matches.

The same is true for the fan who invaded the pitch after Bellamy's goal, as he too will face a ban for entering the field of play during the match.

For Bellamy, the FA decided that he will not face a fine or suspension, but he will only receive a warning for his actions. According to Martin Atkinson (the man who refereed the match), he wouldn't have punished Bellamy for his actions if he was able to see what happened.

And for Gary Neville, the FA decided to also give him a warning, and also stated that Neville's behavior was unprofessional, and that he will face a suspension in the future if he ever does this again.

Also, the FA will not fine Manchester United for the incidents that happened with fans during the match.