Middlesbrough's Paul Gascoigne has been charged with misconduct by the English FA following his clash with Aston Villa's George Boateng on last night. Having viewed video footage of the incident the FA now believe there is a case to answer. Gascoigne broke his arm in the incident, which happened during Boro's 4-0 home defeat by Villa. An FA statement read, "Paul Gascoigne has been charged with misconduct as a result of an incident involving George Boateng during Middlesbrough's home game against Aston Villa last night. In reaching the decision, the Football Association is acutely aware that sadly, Paul sustained a serious injury himself from the incident. Everyone within the game will wish him a speedy recovery." "However, we are committed to investigating allegations of violent play in the interests of the game as a whole," the statement added.
Paul Gascoigne's agent Mel Stein believes the Middlesbrough midfielder will be back in action before the end of the season. Despite his latest injury setback Stein expects Gascoigne to make a full recovery and be back in action in two months time.
The FA's headquarters in London is likely to be a busy place in the next few weeks as misconduct charges were also issued yesterday to Chelsea, Wimbledon, Leeds United and Tottenham as well as to various players and a coach following a weekend of confrontations.
