Sydney FC defender Jack Rodwell has received a two-game ban from Football Australia’s independent Match Review Panel (MRP) after being shown a straight red card in his side’s Semi-Final first-leg defeat to Central Coast Mariners on Friday night.
The Sky Blues were reduced to nine men in a 2-1 defeat to Central Coast at Allianz Stadium; Rodwell received his marching orders for a tackle on Christian Theoharous that initially earned a yellow card before referee Ben Abraham’s review on the pitchside monitor resulted in that caution being upgraded to red.
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Corey Hollman was also sent off for a second yellow card offence late in the game after catching Ronald Barcellos in the face with a high arm as the Mariners substitute attempted to break into free space down the right wing.
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The MRP considered the two incidents on Monday afternoon and concluded Rodwell had committed the offence of “Serious foul play (e.g. when challenging for the ball)”. The minimum sanction for the offence is one game but the MRP have proposed a two-game ban.
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Should Sydney FC manage to overturn their 2-1 deficit in the Semi-Final tie and progress past the Mariners to the Grand Final, the sanction would rule Rodwell out of the title decider on Saturday, May 25.
Rodwell can refer the matter to the independent Disciplinary and Ethics Committe, and has until 2pm AEST on Tuesday, May 14 to advise Football Australia whether he wishes to do so.
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Hollman, meanwhile, has received a one-game ban for the indirect red card he received in Friday’s loss to the Mariners, ruling the young Sydney midfielder out of the second leg of the Semi-Final, set to take place at Industree Group Stadium on Saturday, May 18 (7.45pm AEST kick-off).
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