Toffees ace charged with 'successful deception of a match official' at Selhurst Park in the fifth minute
OUMAR NIASSE has become the first Premier League player to be retrospectively charged for diving.
The Everton striker won a penalty in the fifth minute of 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday after minimal contact with defender Scott Dann.
The 27-year-old has been charged for ‘Successful Deception of a Match Official’ and has until 6pm today (Tuesday) to respond.
Niasse will face a two-game ban if he is found guilty.
A three-man panel - made up of one former official, one former manager and one former player - will look at the incident.
Each panel member will watch all footage independent of the others to determine whether they consider it 'successful deception'.
Niasse will only be charged if the panel are unanimous in their finding.
After going down in the box, Leighton Baines stepped up to level for Everton after James McArthur's first minute goal.
Wilfried Zaha put Palace back in front, but Niasse then scored just before half-time to equalise again.
Palace captain Scott Dann was furious with the decision, stating the striker had "conned" referee Anthony Taylor.
He said: "It definitely wasn’t a penalty. I have seen it again and he dived.
"He has conned the referee. I didn’t think there was contact but if there was it was minimal.
"I’ve not tried to tackle him. He has gone past me and you can see on the replays that he has dived. It was a poor decision. He probably knows he has conned them.
"I spoke to the referee. I was a bit shocked that he gave it.
"He was adamant at the time it was a penalty. Afterwards, I think he probably knew he made the wrong decision.
"He didn’t say anything to me but hopefully he will look at the decision and know he got it wrong.
"I don’t like to see people punished but I also don’t like people diving to win penalties."
