Chelsea contest Terry dismissal

lem8sh

Chelsea have appealed against the red card given to John Terry in Saturday's game against Manchester City.

Blues captain Terry was sent off 13 minutes before the end of his side's 3-1 victory for bringing down City striker Jo near the halfway line.

The Football Association has confirmed the defender's sending off was for serious foul play rather than for a professional foul.

An FA regulatory commission will consider the appeal on Tuesday.

If Terry's red card is upheld, the England captain would miss the key Premier League game against Manchester United on 21 September.

Terry would also miss the Carling Cup tie against Portsmouth on 24 September, and the Premier League encounter with Stoke three days later.

The foul on Jo occurred inside the centre circle, with Terry's centre-back partner Ricardo Carvalho covering the play and full-back Jose Bosingwa also sprinting back to defend.

But any complaints that Terry was not the last defender are unlikely to be relevant after the FA confirmed that referee Mark Halsey dismissed Terry for serious foul play.

Serious foul play is classed as when a player "uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is play".

The official Fifa rules continue: "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

Straight red cards cannot be downgraded to a yellow, so Chelsea will have to successfully argue that Terry did not deserve a yellow in order to succeed in the appeal.

Speaking after the match, Terry's team-mate Frank Lampard insisted the red card was harsh, although he appeared to believe it had been given for a professional foul.

"I don't need to see the sending-off again, there were two players behind him [Terry]," said Lampard.

"If you start giving out red cards like that you'll have four or five a game. There was a similar one with Robbie Keane (who was fouled by Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic) in the Liverpool game and it was a yellow card (for Vidic), a standard yellow card.

"Hopefully they'll look at it again and make it a yellow card. It's not a red card when there's two men behind the ball. If not we could miss him for three games.

"It was just a block-off challenge. It happened at the end with Didier Drogba when there was a free-kick given against Richard Dunne. If that's the case he should have punished him the same as JT, but he didn't."

Eyepopper

I wonder what will happen

henno

he wil get it overturned......

Ruben

He`s completely right to be fair. It was never a red.

MUFCgal

I haven't seen any highlights of that match so I can't comment on the sending off but surely if he's as big a man as he claims, why can't he just accept it and take the suspension like a man? He's England captain and their Lionheart so I expect him to get his red card downgraded to a yellow

Trigg

Never a red card in my opinion. Hopefully, the FA will be stubborn and upheld it anyway, unlikely though.

Makki

It was never a red, but this part makes it interesting:

Straight red cards cannot be downgraded to a yellow, so Chelsea will have to successfully argue that Terry did not deserve a yellow in order to succeed in the appeal.

...which they may have trouble doing, since Halsey could argue he hit Jo's stomach with his arm rather than holding him back.

noodlehair

Serious foul play?

Trigg

Well, it was a defiant yellow card. So he might have to serve the ban after all.

Ruben

It was definetely a yellow. One of those situations where a yellow is always given, but a red is never given. A bit like when the ball is kicked away after whistle is blown.

Ruben

Who are you btw? GiggsyPO?

noodlehair

I'm Ryan Giggs

Jacob

What was your previous nick?

Makki

But the yellow in that case is for what's called a 'tactical free kick', where he stops a counter attack by bringing him down (look at Nani's yellow for bringing Mascherano down), and I think that might be considered a professional foul as well, albeit not a red card. In that case, they have to argue that the "punch" or the strike against Jó's stomach wasn't of bookable character.

As I've understood it, Halsey sent him off for using excessive force in the challenge. But it was well worthy of a yellow, so I expect it to stand as a red card as it stands now. If he'd been sent off for a professional foul it would've definitely been revoked

ERICSAGOD

Have to agree. Makes Vidic's foul look like GBH.

Doogie

IMO he deliberately took the man down, made no attempt to get the ball and stopped a massive counter attack.
Yes, this is usually not a red card, but this is one of the occasions I think yellow is not enough and red is maybe to harsh.
I don't find it acceptable that you can take a man down on purpose because he's blasting past you, leaving you as a little man when you're in fact a big man.

Eyepopper

It was definitely a yellow...

Makki

I agree, for stopping the counter attack, but is taking a 'tactical free kick' considered foul play or professional foul? Because if it's a professional foul they could just argue that the arm to the stomach wasn't of such nature that it would warrant a yellow card, in terms of force used.

Pogue Mahone

If your rugby tackle someone, in a game of football, it's a yellow card.

Tumbling-Dice

It was a professional foul. Up to the referee how he punishes it. I expect the decision to be upheld.

Tumbling-Dice

Or a red.

lynchie

If he hadn't tried to hug him he might have got away with it.

Pogue Mahone

Maybe I should have said at least a yellow but you get my drift. There's no way Chelsea can get away with claiming that he didn't deserve at least a yellow card.

Tumbling-Dice

Indeed.

Something quite irrelevant, but something I spotted when watching the game was that he bodychecked a player earlier in the game and went unpunished. He does that a lot does Terry and this earlier incident was definitely a professional foul, hence a yellow card offence. In reality, with a decent referee, Terry should have walked on Saturday for two yellows. In handing Terry the straight red I just wonder how much Terry's earlier unpunished offence was on the referee's mind.

Makki

The ridiculous thing was that he didn't even get a free kick against him for obstructing the player (if we're talking about the same situation)

Tumbling-Dice

That was the one.

apple-shampoo

If this red card gets taken away, therefore seemingly meaning that that tackle wasn't even worthy of a yellow card then this whole Respect campaign will have failed before it even began.

What message would that send out for next weeks fixtures, we could be seeing tackles like that weekly with referees unable to give out yellow cards for them

And then if referees did give out punishment for them would there would be a precedent for having them recinded. That's be a crazy situation.

Tumbling-Dice

I honestly can't see the card being rescinded.

apple-shampoo

No neither can I to be honest, I'm sure Chelsea can't either which makes it seem like a giant waste of everyones time.

Never mind eh, lets just remember his face when he was shown the card

Eyepopper

lets just wait and see... Johns a big man... they might be afaid of his lions roar!

McLovin

What have you done to noodles.

Instant Karma

Its a straight red.

If Terry hadnt fouled Jo, Robinho and Jo were 2 against 1 with just Carvalho tracking back. It denied them a goal scoring opportunity.

The rule only mentions preventing a goal scoring opportunity with a foul and nothing on whether the player was the last defender or not.

afrocentricity

Are you sure?

charleysurf

I kind of hope the FA remove the red card. A bit of righteous anger at injustice against us could be just what what we need going into that game.

Instant Karma

About what ? Red card guidelines ?


Red Card - A player must be shown a Red Card and "sent off" (i.e., made to leave the field) for the 7 offenses listed below. A player shown a "Red Card" & sent off may not be replaced during that game (i.e., his team must play a player "short" for the rest of the game; however, in some leagues a player may be replaced if he is ejected for receiving a second Yellow Card). The 7 offenses for which a player must be shown a Red Card and sent off are:

1. serious foul play (includes any use of excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball. Examples include a dangerous slide tackle from behind, or an "over the top tackle" in which a player raises his foot so the cleats could hit a player, or a two footed tackle that takes down the opponent. FIFA has broadened this definition by saying that "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play. The rules now include "Decision 4", which says: "A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as serious foul play".

2. violent conduct,

3. spitting at anyone,

4. deliberately touching the ball with a hand in order to prevent a goal or to deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity (such as to prevent a "Breakaway".... this does not apply to the goalkeeper within his own Penalty Box)

5. fouling an opponent to prevent an obvious goal scoring opportunity (e.g., holding to stop a breakaway),

6. using offensive, insulting or threatening language and/or gestures,

7. or receiving a second yellow card in one game.

Trigg

Carvalho and Boswinga I think it was were covering easy enough. He still had a long way to go before he was even at the goal. Got taken down near the half way line did he not?

Instant Karma

Only Carvalho was covering and Robinho was already breaking away parallel to Carvalho. Jo neednt have carried the ball past Carvalho himself, he could have just passed to Robinho, who would have been clear through on goal.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

It will get overturned because it's Chelsea. Even though he deserved a red.

Pogue Mahone

Judging by how poorly Robinho was playing on the day, that would only be a "goal-scoring opportunity" in the very loosest sense

As for your interpretation of straight reds and denying someone a goal-scoring opportunity, every single pundit I have ever heard is very clear that if there's another covering defender, then it isn't a clear goal-scoring opportunity. I would be very surprised if this isn't the case.

Tumbling-Dice

Straight red cards cannot be downgraded to a yellow, so Chelsea will have to successfully argue that Terry did not deserve a yellow in order to succeed in the appeal.

Can't see that happening.