NI's Burrows cleared of assaulting match official

Cliftonville captain Kelsie Burrows has been cleared of assaulting a match official.

In a list of suspensions published on the Irish FA website, Burrows' ban was listed as 16 matches for "assault on a match official (whether or not causing bodily harm)" after Cliftonville's Women's Premiership win over Glentoran on 25 July.

The Northern Ireland international was shown a red card by referee Simon Bickerstaff after the incident involving one of his assistants.

However, it has now emerged that Cliftonville submitted an 'obvious error challenge', which was successful after consideration from the County Antrim disciplinary committee and match officials, with Burrows subsequently cleared of the initial charge.

As a result, Burrows' red card still stands and she now faces a shorter two-match ban on a reclassified offence.

The incident came after the final whistle of the victory over Glentoran, which put Cliftonville right in the mix at the top of the table as they currently sit six points off leaders Linfield with two games in hand.

Cliftonville coach Brendan Lynch was handed a three-match ban from the same game for "entering the field of play to confront a match official".

The Irish Football Association have been contacted by BBC Sport NI for comment.

Defender Burrows has been at Cliftonville for four years, joining from fellow Women's Premiership side Linfield in July 2021.

She spent two spells with the Blues either side of a stint with English Championship side Blackburn Rovers and was part of Kenny Shiels' Northern Ireland squad for the 2022 European Championships.

The 24-year-old has won silverware with Cliftonville, helping them to their first domestic title in 2022 before captaining the side in an historic 2024 campaign where they completed the treble and won every league game.

The game against Glentoran last month was Burrows' first appearance since the start of May after missing a large portion of the campaign with an ankle injury.

She then captained the Reds in their recent Champions League qualifying games against Mitrovica and Lanchkhuti.