By MATT BARLOW and NEIL ASHTON
Chelsea hope new TV camera angles will help Eden Hazard escape with a three-match ban after his fracas with Swansea ball boy Charlie Morgan.
As the FA’s disciplinary chiefs examined the evidence – with a decision expected on Friday on whether Hazard will receive an extended ban – the focus sharpened on Morgan’s role in the ugly episode.
South Wales Police had been reluctant to become involved, but their hand was forced after three members of the public made complaints about the Chelsea winger’s tussle with Morgan at the Liberty Stadium.
The 17-year-old student is the son of Martin Morgan – a Swansea director, the club’s biggest shareholder and, with a £42million fortune, one of the financial forces behind their rise to the Barclays Premier League.
Not surprisingly, the Welsh club have decided to take no action against Morgan Jnr, who retreated to the family’s £1.5m mansion in Carmarthenshire yesterday. As he did, many people inside football took Hazard’s side and criticised the teenager, who had boasted on Twitter before the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg how he was an expert at wasting time.
‘The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting’ he posted.
His Twitter page also contains photographs of a millionaire lifestyle which includes first-class air travel, broken champagne bottles, designer labels and staggering bar bills.
It all supports the notion he may be the richest ball boy in the Barclays Premier League, the heir to a family fortune built on a travel business and boutique hotels who is even wealthier than many of the players.
Morgan has worked as a Swansea ball boy since he was 12 and said he had been called up by his father for Wednesday’s game because some of the regulars could not make it to the game because of the snow.
The ball came his way with 10 minutes to go and with Swansea still holding their 2-0 advantage from the first leg. He refused to hand it back to Hazard, rolling on to the ball and smothering it with his body until Hazard kicked it clear.
Chelsea claim another ball boy had appeared to be wasting time 10 minutes earlier. Hazard was again close to the action and remonstrated with the referee.
The FA’s disciplinary team spent yesterday studying replays of the incident from different camera angles, including one which appears to show Hazard made fairly clean contact with the ball.
Footage shown at the time, together with the dramatic reaction of the teenager, suggested Hazard had administered a hefty boot to Morgan’s ribs on the way to the ball.
Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin branded Morgan’s actions ‘disgraceful and unacceptably brattish’, and claimed the ball boy was ‘acting’ when he claimed to be hurt.
‘He’s only got one job and that’s to give the ball back,’ Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘And what does he do? He keeps the ball.’
Fulham manager Martin Jol said he would have done the same as Hazard. ‘I can see why he did it,’ said the Dutchman. ‘The boy shouldn’t lie on the ball and play rugby with it.’
Many professional footballers tweeted in support of the Chelsea player, with Michael Owen assailing Morgan’s reaction as ‘scandalous’.
Rather than basking in the glory of reaching their first major final after beating the European champions, Swansea were on the defensive yesterday. Vice-chairman Leigh Dineen said: ‘We don’t line up the ball boys and ask them to waste time.
‘The boy went to pick up the ball and he fell over. He didn’t hold on to the ball for a minute. It happened over about 20 seconds.
‘Had it been 2-0 to Chelsea, I don’t think Hazard would have been anywhere near the ball. But I don’t think Hazard deliberately went to kick him.’
Swansea first-team coach Alan Curtis added: ‘We never gave them instructions to slow the game down. It’s never been the case.’
Hazard was sent off by referee Chris Foy for violent conduct, which will carry an automatic three-match ban, ruling the winger out of games against Brentford, Reading and Newcastle.
Chelsea do not intend to appeal but the FA can opt to pass the case on to an independent commission if they suspect three matches is insufficient punishment.
They were also gathering evidence from the match officials and South Wales Police, and spoke to officials at Swansea to ascertain the ball boy’s version of events.
Chelsea hope the video, together with Hazard’s public apology immediately after the game and his previous record of good behaviour, can bring the case down on their side.
Morgan was invited into the visitors’ dressing room after the game and spoke to Hazard. They apologised to each other, according to Chelsea’s interim manager Rafa Benitez.
The ball boy and Swansea agreed they would not lodge a police complaint but the local force had three complaints from the public which they are obliged to follow.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will discipline Hazard according to their internal procedure and within the PFA limit of two weeks’ wages, which would be a maximum of £340,000.
It was headline news in his native Belgium. He became the most expensive Belgian footballer ever when he moved from Lille to Chelsea for £32m last year and was in touch with friends at home yesterday to insist he had done nothing wrong.
It is not his first brush with controversy. He was widely criticised when he was substituted after 60 minutes in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Turkey.
Hazard stormed straight down the tunnel and was later filmed eating a hamburger nearby when the game was still going on.
This did nothing for his popularity but he does not have a reputation for a violent temper. Those who followed his career in France insisted the ball-boy incident was totally out of character yet there was a warning from the Belgian FA.
Their chief executive Steven Martens said: ‘It is unfortunate and not something we are proud of. No football authority or person interested in football likes to see acts of violence or lack of respect. It might have happened in the heat of the fire but professionals are expected to be able to control themselves.
‘I’m convinced Eden will realise that. He is more than intelligent enough to understand that this is going to be a lesson learned for him.’
