Blackburn captain Andy Todd was on Thursday cleared of violent conduct against Arsenal striker Robin van Persie during last Saturday's FA Cup semi-finals. Todd escaped a three-match ban after an English Football Association disciplinary commission found the charge against him not proven. The central defender had pleaded not guilty after the incident during Rovers' 3-0 defeat at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Van Persie, a substitute, was celebrating the second of his two goals, scored on the stroke of full-time when 30-year-old central defender Todd caught the striker accidentally in the mouth.
Todd proclaimed his innocence claiming that he did not see van Persie as the forward, who subsequently required treatment, wheeled away to celebrate his goal and did not stick his elbow out deliberately.