By AVI CREDITOR
Bayern Munich's appeal of the red card that Franck Ribery received in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Lyon has been rejected, meaning that the star winger will miss the Champions League final against Inter Milan.
In case you forgot, here's how Ribery was sent off:
Do you think that Ribery's three-game suspension should have been reduced? Do you think Bayern Munich can defeat Inter Milan without him?
Share your thoughts below.
High challenge? Really? I don’t see that at all. I see him playing the man, and not the ball, so I would have given him the card, but only a yellow. It all seems kind of lame to me.
Yes, I think the red card was deserved…it was a reckless, late, high challenge. However, I do think a three game suspension is a bit harsh. One game would be sufficient.
Yes, I think Bayern can beat Inter. Bayern seems to be playing with a lot of purpose right now, and Robben is playing exceptionally well…I’m not sure Inter’s defense will be able to hold Robben.
Well deserved red card on that careless play, I’m sure Ribery could have avoided hurting the other player he is skilled enough to have avoided that situation. All it takes is a split second of losing control and someone can get seriously hurt. In this case Ribery did lose control only for a split second. This should remind him to always stay focused.
Ribery was going after the ball. Since when does effort get a 3 game suspension. I could see getting a yellow but how this kind of call reinforces the soccer haters stereotype of the sport. Absolute ridiculous suspension
i would say you are spot on!
I think in the MLS, you play on. In the Champions League its a red card.
MLS and Champions League are different, wouldn’t you say? There are 30 games during the MLS regular season and only 13 for the CL (group stage through final). Ribery has already sat out one game.
No conspiracy theories? I guess it was just a coincidence that the ref is Italian.
They are dealing with it…
of course I’m suggesting that the referee is always correct – you should know that though because I sat behind you last year at Giant’s Stadium and NEVER said anything bad about the referees…
I’m guessing though that the appeal is for the automatic 2 game suspension that was levied, which though I am not aware of competition rules, might be in there in the event of a Sending off for SFP. And if that’s the case, then Bayern doesn’t have a 17 year old prostitute’s leg to stand on (yeah, I went there).
It is disappointing to see a high level player such as Ribery missing out on such a huge match, but sometimes that’s how the cards fall…
If this tackle had been the other way around, Bayern would be pressing for a 3 match ban for the Lyon player. Ribery should just control himself next time, intentional or not. He’s not out there for defense anyways.
a red card is one thing (which it wasn’t a red card foul at all)
but 3 match ban? why? noob decision
Harsh red, but with that being said, a suspension of more than one game seems even more harsh.
sigh. for you dictionary PhDs out there, sorry for a couple misspelled words . . .
Nats, you are inviting some harsh rebuke by qualifying your comment with ” . . . has never played soccer before.” I have played soccer since I was 8, in the great city where Ribery now plays, and I don’t see how he “clearly” means to do anything. It is not clear exactly what he is doing. To me it looks as though he a) misjudged the ball and b) was a bit distracted with the player coming up to defend. “b)” could have influenced “a)”. Still is just an odd, odd, happening. Perhaps he had given up on getting the ball and ONLY meant to “stamp.” IF that was his motive and intent, it would be shear stupidity. He had a chance to win the ball and prior to that foul looks like he is only concerned with possessing it and not reigning retribution down on the Lyon player.
I don’t fault your judgment of Ribery’s intent as I do your somewhat careless and potentially inflammatory remark.
Regardless, a 3 game suspension is ridiculous.
Probably already mentioned but seems to me this is just a vehicle to keep Ribery out of the match so some of the talk pre-match will not center on the whole prostitute scandal. I agree that the multiple match ban is harsh and not justified. My hunch is he is being punished for non-soccer related activities.
It’s a red card that part is obvious. It’s a tackle which endangers the safety of an opponent, everyone who says it wasn’t malicious is trying to talk about “malicious intent” it’s just shortened. Let’s correct this for everyone now…referees do not judge the intent of player on fouls. Referees cannot read minds and FIFA asked them to stop trying so “intent” isn’t the criteria anymore. The challenge was endangering his safety easily which is the criteria calling for a red card.
Being a referee I don’t have to deal with suspensions of players after the fact. My opinion is it’s too harsh…Inter get an advantage real or assumed for something committed in a different game not involving them. Let him play in the final, and lets make these rules for suspensions a little more clear.
It’s a horrible tackle, deserved a red, probably deserved a 3 match ban.
Actually I have to say that is excellent work by the referee. Hard to see the play in full speed great work by the ref to spot it. Deserved the red and I have no problem with the suspension either.
Red card. Good call by ref.
Retarded comment Josh D. You could have kept it within the footballing world and said “for robbing the Irish of their World Cup spot.”
Smart comment, Nots.
I didn’t say he meant to hurt him. I said he meant to stamp on him, and he could have hurt him badly. That kind of play is dangerous and unacceptable.
Agree with the red, don’t agree with the length of suspension.
The tackle was a red card. He was out of control, stepped over the ball, and could have broken his leg. Even if he didn’t have intent to injure, the foul meets the standards of a red card…standards that are in place to prevent players from getting their legs snapped.
A 3-game suspension seems a little harsh, but 1-2 game suspension is the norm throughout the soccer world for a red card. In MLS, Lahoud committed a similar foul, received a red, and has a 2-game suspension this week. Even if you gave Ribery the smallest suspension red cards can get, he’d still miss the final. Special treatment shouldn’t be given to stars.
I hate that Bayern is going to the CAS with this appeal. I don’t think the tackle deserved more than a one-match ban, but there’s nothing more pathetic than some club — especially a big club like Bayern — whining its way up the tree in the hopes that someone will take pity on it. Bayern had its chance at an appeal and UEFA declined to lower the ban. Deal with it.
An inch difference and that’s a gruesome snapped ankle. I don’t disagree with the red.
I think the issue is not so much the red card but the additional 2 match ban, which was UEFA’s choice, not the refs.
I think the red card was not right, but it is the ref’s call. The additional 2 match ban is horribly wrong. They had replays and they still thought he did it on purpose. I don’t see it.
At first i thought the push was the challenge that got a red and thought i had seen harder challenges in a u 9 league go , without cards. Then i saw the stomp which is unexcusable, though it didnt look like he intended to. Of course this is soccer and some players should win oscars because even they are confused where they had gotten hit when they roll on the ground.
Because referees are honestly garbage nowadays. That challenge was a yellow, nothing more.
Just wait until the world cup – there will be plenty of bogus calls ala Onyewu’s pen against Ghana. Don’t think for a second that wasn’t in the cards from the first whistle in that game.
I’m off topic, sorry.
You are right. If you ever played before you’d know that he meant to hurt Lopez.
Whatev Nats
Whatev Nats
Anyone who doesn’t think that was a malicious tackle has never played soccer before. He clearly meant to stamp on the guy and he deserves the suspension.
I do not see how they are appealing, looking at the replay, it is a clear case of serious foul play. The intent to play the ball was minimal: if be had gotten the ball, its would have been with the sole of his foot which makes little sense. A normal tackle in that situation it a toe poke or a laces slide, neither of which he did. If he had broken the guy’s leg, which is very possible looking at the replay, no one would have questioned it.
I agree with Slyboy. Had he actually broke Lisandro’s leg everybody that is defending Ribery now would be singing a different tune. Lisandro is fortunate that Ribery did not break his leg, because that is what that kind of challenge can produce.
I would love to see Ribery play. I’m routing for Bayern. But I can’t honestly say the suspension is not justified.
Agree – very harsh red.
Oh well, that’s called Karma and what you get for messing about with little kids Ribery…
My thoughts exactly.
I think it should have been reduced.
Red Card? Fine. Multiple match suspension, including the Champions League Final? A little ridiculous. I’ve seen far worse only go down as a yellow card with no further action.
I don’t know how some of you can say the red card is not deserved!, i agree with many of you that a 3 match ban is excessive because i don’t think he was trying to cause harm, but that foul was very reckless and could have really injured the player. Therefor a red card.
3 game ban is gross and seems quite fishy to be honest. Not sure who is responsible for these rulings but that hardly deserved a 3 match ban IMO.
With that being said Bayern are fully capable of playing well without him. In fact some of their better games are without him. He can try to do too
much on his own at times and seems to bitch at teamates. Good player he is but they will suffice without him.
Wykell, if the game was that simple there would be no appeals process, unless you are trying to say that every referee is always right?
Of course not. Sometimes they get it wrong, and of course a team is going to use their right to appeal the suspension of their talismanic best player before the most important game the club has played in years. It’s actually ridiculously simple to understand why they’d appeal this.
Of course, in this case the video replay makes it all too obvious that it was the correct call by the referee. The red card was well deserved…maybe he should have gotten two, hehe.
But to somehow wonder why a team would work within the proper rules of the game in a desperate plea to keep their best player from being suspended is a bit naive.
I watched Ribery’s foul live on game day and was surprised to see him get a red card. I just watched the video and replayed the segments over and over. I still think he did not deserve a red card. He was trying to put his right foot over the ball to divert it. Look at his eyes. He was concentrating on the ball, not the defender’s ankle. The hand contact was a result of him falling off balance. It was not malicious.
All I can say is that is disappointing. To allow such a great player miss what is suppose to be the championship game over what looks like such a small foul. Yes he did step on his ankle but there was never anything intentional or trying to injure in that.
I’m curious how the incident was written in the match report. A 3 match ban seems to me like it was written up as Violent Conduct. Which surprises me a little. If the official put down Serious Foul Play, I would think it would be a one or two match ban.
That’s really disappointing. There was nothing malicious in it, he was going for the ball. Lisandro was fine. Okay, it’s probably a red card and the one game suspension. Three games is overkill though. It’s not fair to anyone that Ribery isn’t going to be able to participate in the final. Boo FIFA.
any news on Thiago Mottas red card or did Inter not appeal it?
Easy answer to this one. If in the opinion of the referee a tackle is judged to be careless, it is a foul. If it is judged to be reckless, it is a foul with an accompanying yellow card for unsportsmanlike behavior. If it is judged that excessive force was used, it is a red card for Serious Foul Play.
The referee judged that Ribery used excessive force, therefore sent him off. I can’t even imagine how Bayern would attempt to appeal it.
I think a red was too harsh. I mean that was a nasty step on the ankle, but he was definitely going after the ball. Kind of a 50-50 situation. Maybe give him a yellow for a misstep but not a red.