Victory to appeal Mrdja ban
02/23/2010 03:36:01 AM
Melbourne Victory will appeal the two-match suspension handed down to striker Nik Mrdja, the club confirmed on Tuesday.
Mrdja was given a straight red card for elbowing Sydney's Shannon Cole in last week's 2-1 win over Sydney in the first leg of the major semi-final.
The match review panel charged Mrdja with violent conduct for the incident, and imposed the minimum two-match ban for such an offence, ruling him out of the second leg in Sydney.
But he could also miss the Grand Final, should the Victory qualify directly by beating the Sky Blues over the two legs.
Melbourne has decided to refer the incident to the FFA Disciplinary Committee in the hope of having the ban reduced or lifted altogether.
The suspension does not rule Mrdja out of Asian Champions League matches with the striker set to play in Tuesday night's opening group game against Beijing Guoan.