The independent Match Review Panel (MRP) – consisting of Simon Micallef (Chair), Alan Davidson, and Matthew Breeze – convened on Monday to consider the following incidents from Round 18 of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 season.
1. An incident involving Tim Cahill (Cahill) of Melbourne City FC which arose in or around the 88th minute of Melbourne City FC’s match against Melbourne Victory on Saturday, 4 February 2017.
The MRP has the authority to consider the incident as Cahill was expelled from the match by the Referee.
The MRP determined that Cahill committed the offence of “Use of offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures against a match official”.
The MRP has proposed a sanction of one match (the Mandatory Match Suspension) being the Minimum Sanction for the offence.
2. An incident involving Dean Bouzanis (Bouzanis) of Melbourne City FC which arose in or around the 88th minute of Melbourne City FC’s match against Melbourne Victory on Saturday, 4 February 2017.
The MRP has determined that, on the basis of the evidence reviewed, Bouzanis has a case to answer whether he committed the offence of “Use of discriminatory language and/or gestures, including racist, religious, ethnic or sexist” (Offence).
The MRP has issued a Disciplinary Notice to Bouzanis and referred the incident to the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee for hearing as to whether the Offence has been committed, and if so, what sanction should be imposed.
The Disciplinary and Ethics Committee hearing will take place at FFA offices in Sydney this Wednesday evening (8 February) at a time to be confirmed.
