Midfielder accepted the charges but provided a written explanation of his comments
Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been fined £80,000 by the Football Association following comments he made about refereeing decisions after City’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in February.
The disciplinary panel ruled that Rodri’s remarks questioned the integrity or impartiality of a match official, although the Spain international avoided a suspension and instead received a financial penalty and a warning about his future conduct.
The incident that sparked the controversy occurred during the match at Tottenham when City had initially taken a 2-0 lead. Spurs pulled a goal back through Dominic Solanke in the 70th minute but City players felt it should have been ruled out.
The goal stood despite claims that Solanke had fouled Marc Guehi in the build-up, appearing to kick through the back of the defender’s leg to score.
After the match, Rodri publicly criticised the officiating of referee Robert Jones.
“I know we won too much and the people don’t want us to win, but the referee has to be neutral,” he said. “It’s not fair because we work so hard. When everything is finished, you are frustrated.
“It’s one game and another game and another game, and it’s not possible. Honestly, I never speak about referees, I respect their job massively. But they have to pay attention to these things.
“He kicked the leg, it’s so clear. It’s two, three games in a row and I don’t know why.”
The 29-year-old admitted the charge by the FA but in his defence he provided written explanation of his comments.
Rodri said: “This is what I meant by, ‘but it’s not today, it’s two, three games in a row. And I don’t know why honestly’: we have experienced other occasions in our matches where I believe decisions have been incorrect.
“The bad foul by Diogo Dalot on [Jeremy] Doku at Manchester United [17 January] which should have been a red card, and [Antoine] Semenyo’s disallowed goal at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup [13 January]. I don’t have an explanation as to why the mistakes have happened.
“‘We won too much and the people, they don’t want us to win, but the referee has to be neutral’: supporters of other clubs who have witnessed our success will not want to see that continue. That thought process doesn’t apply to referees, who are professionally neutral in their roles.
“I did not say that referees are not neutral (as the media articles you have sent to me wrongly suggest). I meant that this can be ruled out as an explanation as to why referee mistakes have happened recently.
“‘And for me, honestly, it’s not fair, it’s not fair’: it doesn’t feel fair when the result is influenced by an incorrect decision rather than just the performance of the team.”
To avoid the player getting suspended, Manchester City also submitted examples of similar disciplinary cases in which managers were fined but not banned.
Those precedents included Frank Lampard as Everton manager in 2022, Marco Silva of Fulham in 2024, and Chris Wilder while in charge of Sheffield United.
The regulatory commission ultimately followed a similar approach with Rodri. Alongside the £80,000 fine, he was formally warned about his future behaviour when discussing match officials.
