Arsenal are preparing an appeal against the two-match Champions League ban for diving handed to Eduardo da Silva by Uefa yesterday — after a disciplinary hearing that lasted under an hour.
The Croatia striker was found guilty of deceiving Manuel Enrique Mejuto González, the referee, by going to ground under a challenge from Artur Boruc, the goalkeeper, in last week’s 3-1 win over Celtic in the second leg of their play-off round tie.
Arsenal are waiting to see the fine print of Uefa’s judgment before finalising an appeal, but they have begun exploring grounds to do so. Senior figures at the club believe that they are being victimised, because it is unusual for video evidence to be used retrospectively to punish a player for diving.
As it stands, Eduardo will miss Arsenal’s Champions League group matches away to Standard Liège on September 16 and the home match with Olympiacos on September 29.
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Arsenal believe that they are the victims of flawed decision-making processes at Uefa, which they consider to be random and arbitrary. A charge of “deceiving the referee” was introduced in 2006, but in the intervening three years no such charge has been brought against a player in club competition and it is inconceivable that no offences have been committed over that period.
Arsenal will also protest against the severity of the sentence, arguing that if the referee had concluded that Eduardo dived at the time, he would have been given a yellow card, rather than a two-match suspension.
There is further concern at Arsenal over the speed with which Uefa reached its verdict, fuelling fears that the club and the player are being made an example of. Arsenal submitted video evidence as part of their defence, which they believe proves that there was contact between Boruc and Eduardo, as well as a 19-page document, but Uefa’s disciplinary committee delivered its decision in 53 minutes.
Arsenal’s best hope is that Uefa will reduce Eduardo’s sentence on appeal — as it did for the bans that were given to Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa this summer in the wake of their behaviour in the aftermath of Chelsea’s Champions League defeat by Barcelona in last season’s semi-final, second leg — but it appears that European football’s governing body has decided to take a firm stance against diving in this instance.
Arsène Wenger remains furious at the way Eduardo has been treated — the Arsenal manager accused Uefa of conducting a “witch-hunt” last week — and the club outlined their frustrations last night in a strongly worded statement on their website.
“We have been informed that we will receive a ‘reasoned decision’ from Uefa by Thursday of this week,” it read. “Once we receive Uefa’s rationale, we will make a decision on the next steps.
“We have been deeply frustrated by the perfunctory and apparently arbitrary process that Uefa has followed in this instance. We believe it is imperative that Uefa’s explanation for its decision provides clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced. It is also critical that Uefa provides specific details of the processes it plans to adopt in reviewing all games under its jurisdiction.”
Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, was charged with improper conduct by the FA yesterday for his rant at match officials after his side’s 2-1 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur last month. Benítez was furious with Phil Dowd, the referee, for failing to award two late penalties and claimed that the fourth official, Stuart Attwell, was too young, at 26, to be involved in a Barclays Premier League match. Benítez has until September 15 to respond.