UEFA Rescinds Eduardo’s Two-Match Ban

Following Arsenal's appeal against UEFA’s control and disciplinary body to ban Eduardo da Silva for two European matches, UEFA has decided to overturn its decision.

Initially, UEFA found Eduardo to be guilty of deceiving the referee and banned him for two matches in the Champions League. Then on Monday 14 September, UEFA said:

"Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees' assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to our satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty."

In the videoclip (above), there is evidence that there is some contact made between Celtic goalkeeper Boruc and Arsenal striker Eduardo. Eduardo’s right foot is slightly whipped towards the left, but was it enough to bring him down? Given Eduardo’s much publicized leg injury in 2008 (see videoclip below) and, hence, understandable aversion to bad challenges, UEFA has finally deliberated that there is no conclusive evidence to show that Eduardo intentionally deceived the referee.



Nevertheless, we must remember that these panel deliberations in the cool calm light of hindsight (i.e. more than two weeks after the incident) are always much much easier to make compared to what referees have to quickly decide in the heat and atmosphere of the moment.


Reference
Uefa overturns Eduardo diving ban (BBC Sport)
Arsenal VS Celtic 3-1 (YouTube)
eduardo injury best view (YouTube)