Football Australia’s independent Match Review Panel (MRP) has upheld Sydney FC forward Robert Mak’s suspension after an incident involving Newcastle Jets defender Phillip Cancar in the Isuzu UTE A-League on Sunday afternoon.
The MRP confirmed Mak would serve a one-game ban and miss Saturday night’s Sydney Derby against Western Sydney Wanderers as one of three conclusions reached in Monday’s review.
Western United captain Josh Risdon picked up his 11th yellow card of the season in Round 23 and will sit out his side’s clash with league leaders Central Coast Mariners at the Regional Football Facility, Tarneit on Saturday.
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The MRP also issued “a disciplinary notice to show cause” to Macarthur FC captain Ulises Dávila for an incident in the Bulls’ 4-2 loss to Western United involving both Dávila and Risdon.
Newcastle Jets stunned Sydney FC 3-1 on Sunday in a game that featured a straight red card to Mak in the 37th minute of play at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The MRP, consisting of Simon Micallef (Chair), Alan Davidson and Alan Contini, assessed the incident on Monday and despite Sydney’s lodgement of an obvious error application, decided to uphold Mak’s suspension but downgraded the offence from “violent conduct” “serious unsporting conduct.”
Mak will serve a mandatory one-match suspension, missing the Sydney Derby at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Upon confirmation of Mak’s one-game ban, Sydney head coach Ufuk Talay said: “It’s extremely disappointing for Robbie and for the club that he will miss the Sydney Derby which is a huge game for everyone.
“I’m pleased we backed Robbie and tried to appeal the decision.
“It’s disappointing we haven’t been able to overturn it; it feels like we’ve been punished twice but we will move forward and focus on this weekend now.”
Dávila meantime caught the attention of the MRP for an incident in the 53rd minute of his side’s defeat to Western United. After a hefty collision between his Macarthur winger Raphael Borges Rodrigues and Western defender Kane Vidmar, both Risdon and Dávila rushed in to support their respective teammates.
Dávila raised his right hand to Risdon’s throat during the altercation.
The MRP has exercised its authority to identify “Citation Incidents” involving a player that could have resulted in a red card but escaped the referee’s attention, and as a result have issued Dávila with a disciplinary notice to show cause, to explain whether he believed he had committed the offence of “assault on a player (e.g. violent conduct when not challenging for the ball) or against any other person other than a match official, including an attempted assault.”
The incident will be reviewed again on Tuesday, April 9 by the MRP, with the panel set to reconvene to consider any submission from Dávila.
