Melbourne City captain Aziz Behich has been issued with a Disciplinary Notice from Football Australia’s independent Match Review Panel (MRP) for an incident involving Melbourne Victory forward Nikos Vergos in Saturday night’s Melbourne Derby.
The MRP, consisting of Simon Micallef (Chair), Alan Davidson and Con Diomis, convened on Monday to consider two incidents from Round 2 of the 2024-25 season – including Behich’s derby altercation with Vergos in the 46th minute of the fixture.
Under clause 11.1(c)(i) of the A-Leagues Disciplinary Regulations, the MRP can identify citation incidents should they believe a red card offence escaped the attention of the referees.
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As such, the MRP have handed Behich a Disciplinary Notice to show cause as to why he hasn’t 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 MRP will reconvene on Tuesday afternoon (AEDT) to consider any submissions received on behalf of Behich. If it’s determined that Behich committed an offence, a sanction will be proposed.
The MRP also considered an incident after the final whistle of Macarthur Bulls’ 2-1 loss to Newcastle Jets at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night, in which Macarthur assistant coach Christophe Gamel received a red card.
Gamel was issued a direct red card by the referee, and per the regulations, the MRP has the authority to consider the incident. It was determined Gamel committed the offence of “Assault on a Player, Team Official, spectator or any other person other than a Match Official (including physical or aggressive behaviour to such individuals)”.
The minimum sanction for the offence is two games, but the MRP formed the view that the offence warranted a sanction of four or more games.
The matter has been referred directly to the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee for hearing and determination of what additional sanction should be imposed above the two-game minimum for the offence.
FA has also issued Team Misconduct Notices to both Macarthur FC and Newcastle Jets in relation to the fracas that unfolded between coaches and players from both teams at full-time of Friday night’s fixture.
