Spanish FA release Mason Greenwood statement as Getafe red card decision changed

Mason Greenwood’s potential four-match ban for Getafe has been rescinded following intervention from the Spanish FA in a successful appeal.

Greenwood, 21, was sent off during Getafe’s game last week, a 2-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday.

Referee Jorge Figueroa Vazquez dismissed the Manchester United loanee for dissent after a challenge after it was claimed the winger said ‘F*** you’ to the official.

Following an appeal from Getafe, the decision has been overturned by the Spanish FA, with an official statement explaining that Greenwood was complaining about the fouls on him, rather than directed at the referee.

“The task of this disciplinary body is not to re-referee the matches, without determining, where appropriate, the existence of a manifest material error in the referee’s description of the action,” the Spanish FA said, as reported by the Daily Mail.

“As has been said here, only proof of an error of this type can distort the assessment made by the referee and, consequently, the veracity of what was recorded in the minutes. 

“The repeated viewing of the images, in fact, has allowed this Committee to conclude, beyond any doubt, that the action that led to the expulsion did not occur as described by the referee and, ultimately, prove the material error manifest in the referee’s report.

“These images demonstrate that the player actually said ‘One, two, three, four, f***.’

Had Greenwood’s red card been upheld, he could’ve been facing up to a four-game ban. He appeared in Getafe’s 1-0 win against RCD Espanyol on Saturday instead.

The official’s post-match report read: “In the 50th minute, the player (12) Greenwood, Mason Will John, was sent off for the following reason: For addressing me in a sign of protest and raising his arm, in the following terms: ‘F*** you’.”

“Once sent off, he takes the finger to the temple, making a repeated gesture as a sign of disagreement with the decision made.”

Greenwood moved to Getafe on loan on deadline day in the summer after  United confirmed that he would restart his career elsewhere after Old Trafford fans protested the decision to bring him into Erik ten Hag‘s squad after a domestic abuse court case.

The 21-year-old was accused of domestic abuse and physical assault, among other things. The charges were eventually dropped by the CPS, but United then launched their own internal investigation which ended in his departure on loan.