Van Persie unable to appeal red
Robin van Persie will not be able to challenge his controversial sending off against Barcelona last night, UEFA today confirmed.
The European governing body, who will wait for reports from referee Massimo Busacca and the match delegate at the Nou Camp before deciding whether to take disciplinary action against Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, said appeals against cautions could only be made on the grounds of mistaken identity.
Busacca showed the Dutch striker a second yellow card for shooting at goal just one second after he had blown the whistle for offside – Van Persie claimed he had not heard it due to the noise of the 95,000-plus crowd.
Wenger confronted the Swiss official after the final whistle over the sending off and the angry exchange continued inside the tunnel.
UEFA today confirmed Van Persie cannot appeal against his one-match suspension.
A spokesman said: “Under Article 44.4 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, appeals are only allowed against cautions on the grounds of mistaken identity.”
Van Persie labelled Busacca’s decision a “total joke” and said the red card “killed the game” with Barcelona going on to score two more goals and win 3-1, 4-3 on aggregate.
In relation to Wenger, the UEFA spokesman added: “We are waiting for the UEFA match delegate’s report and the referee’s report. If anything is mentioned then the control and disciplinary department with decided whether decide to open a disciplinary case or not.”
UEFA always refuse to comment on the individual performances of referees but they did confirm that Busacca’s handling of the match will be evaluated.
The UEFA spokesman added: “Referees are always evaluated. There is a referee observer who evaluates their performance. These are taken into account internally in terms of appointments but we never make that public.”
