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Bournemouth have been warned that the club may receive a sanction due to their behaviour towards referee Jarred Gillett in their game against Crystal Palace. The Cherries were involved in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the weekend, with a late Jean-Phillippe Mateta spot kick preventing Bournemouth from claiming the win.

Andoni Iraola’s side made a dream start as Eli Junior Kroupi put the away side in front at Selhurst Park after just seven minutes. The 19-year-old striker’s dream day continued as he doubled Bournemouth’s lead before half-time.

However, a brace from Mateta after the break put Palace back on level terms, shifting momentum back to the home team. That was until Ryan Christie’s goal looked to have secured the win for Iraola’s team in the 89th minute.

Ultimately, it was not meant to be for Bournemouth, who conceded a penalty in added time. Bafode Diakite was judged to have fouled Palace defender Marc Guehi in the box, with Mateta duly stepping up to complete his hat-trick. It could have also gone from bad to worse for Bournemouth, who subsequently watched the striker spurn a golden chance to steal the win.

However, before Palace equalised from the spot, several Bournemouth players, including Diakite, confronted referee Jarred Gillett over his penalty decision. Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has argued that this was a clear breach of the new captains only rule, which was implemented at the start of the season, and suggested it could result in a fine for Bournemouth.

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“It’s against protocol. Even though there’s ‘captains only’, I hope the protocol is that referees being surrounded by three or more players is a reportable scenario,” Hackett told Football Insider.

“That becomes a potential fine for the offending team, and even though they’re big decisions, this must be stopped. As a fan, you get the frustration.

“You want your team to win, but Gillett had a great performance. He understands what is a foul and what isn’t. He’s bang in form, give him the games.”

A Premier League explainer of the captains only rule states: “When the referee initiates ‘Captain Only’, IFAB states that only one player from each team – usually the captain – is allowed to approach the referee and, when doing so, they must always interact in a respectful manner. This change formally recognises the important relationship between the referee and captain.

“So normal interactions between players and referees are allowed and remain important, but referees may engage a captain to provide explanation for important decisions. Those captains are also responsible for helping direct team-mates away from the referee.”

Whether the warning from Hackett, a former general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, is proven right remains to be seen. However, Bournemouth boss Iraola’s primary concern after the match was how his side had allowed victory to slip through their fingers.

"I think it has been an entertaining game, if we talk about football we were better in the first-half and they were better in the second-half. They punished us with their physicality,” he told BBC Sport.

"I cannot be happy, I am not [pleased], I am upset and I am angry because of their goal in the 96th-minute, I cannot accept it.

"Not to win it because someone called a penalty and I think the VAR was influenced by the previous decision. That is the only explanation I can find.

"They were punishing us and it was a difficult moment when they scored to make it 2-2 but then we got it back and showed some character. To [concede] like this is difficult.”

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