The FA have today reduced Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic’s ban from three games to two following his red card against Burnley on Saturday.Â
Matic was reacting to an extremely dangerous challenge by Burnley’s Ashley Barnes when he was shown red by referee Martin Atkinson following a push on the player.
The standard ban for a straight red card, three games, was deemed too harsh by the FA who have reduced the games Matic will miss down to two following an appeal by Chelsea’s board.
He will still miss the Capital One Cup Final next Sunday as well as Chelsea’s trip to West Ham, but will be available when the Blues host Southampton on March 15th.
Roger Burden, Chairman of the FA’s Regulatory Commission, said:
We determined that the standard punishment of a three-match suspension would be clearly excessive and, therefore, ordered that the suspension be reduced to two matches.
Chelsea, though, are clearly not happy with the ban that Matic will serve, despite it being reduced.
In a statement on the club website, they said:
It is the club’s view that he has been unjustly punished with a two-match ban for his reaction to a career-threatening tackle.
“It is Chelsea’s opinion that referees and the football authorities must do more to protect players at all levels of the game from dangerous challenges”, they added.
The FA’s full statement can be seen here while Chelsea’s response in full is here.
