The Football Association has charged Jack Wilshere retrospectively with making an offensive and/or insulting and/or abusive gesture in Arsenal’s match against Manchester City this past weekend.

According to a statement from The FA,

“The charge follows an alleged gesture made during the fixture between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 14 December. The incident was not seen by match officials but was caught on video.

“Wilshere has been charged retrospectively by The FA under a new pilot project for potential ‘not seen’ incidents in Premier League matches.

“Under the new process, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel will be asked by The FA to review it and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

“For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the panel were unanimous.

“Wilshere has until 6pm on 18 December to respond to the charge.”

The ball is now in Wilshere’s court to decide whether he wants to appeal the charge. It’s likely that Wilshere will accept the charge, and will then be punished by a match ban from The FA.

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