Millwall goalkeeper's ban doubled to 6 games for kicking Mateta in the head

Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts said on Friday he received abusive messages and threats after he kicked Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta in the head last weekend.

Roberts' three-game ban was doubled to six games on Friday after the English Football Association wanted him to be given extra punishment.

During an FA Cup fifth-round match last Saturday, Roberts' dangerous challenge left Mateta needing 25 stitches on a severely lacerated ear.

"I am devastated by what happened," Roberts said in a statement. "I unequivocally accept the red card as awarded and accept my punishment. Furthermore, it has been extremely unpleasant to observe suggestions that I intended to harm a fellow professional. I have categorically never stepped onto a football pitch with the intention of hurting anyone."

Roberts said he received "unthinkable amount of abusive messages and threats towards my family and I."

He was sent off after eight minutes of the match between the London rivals.

A standard three-match ban is issued for straight red cards, but the FA asked for a bigger suspension and an independent panel upheld the claim.

"The FA claimed that — in the circumstances — the standard punishment for this offense was clearly insufficient, and Liam Roberts subsequently denied this," the governing body said in a statement on Friday.

Mateta was substituted and taken to hospital for specialist treatment. He was discharged later Saturday.

"In all the time I've watched football, I've never seen a challenge like it,” Palace chairman Steve Parish told the BBC during the halftime break. "That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I've ever seen."

Roberts said he reached out to Mateta to check on his condition and the Palace forward "reassured me not to worry."

Palace coach Oliver Glasner said on Friday that Mateta would miss Saturday's Premier League match against Ipswich but could be available for the FA Cup quarterfinal against Fulham at the end of the month.

"He had no fractures or concussion. Healing from the huge wound is going as we expected," he said.

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