Eduardo ban overturned

Arsenal striker cleared for opening fixtures

Arsenal striker Eduardo has seen his two-match UEFA Champions League ban overturned by European football's governing body.

The Croatia international was handed the punishment after tumbling to the ground to win a penalty in the second leg of the qualifying showdown against Celtic.

Television replays showed that Bhoys goalkeeper Artur Boruc had made no contact with the Gunners forward and Uefa subsequently charged Eduardo with 'deceiving the referee' and issued the two-game penalty.

The North London club responded to the announcement by stating their "deep frustration" with the decision and issued an immediate appeal.

Uefa's Appeals Body have accepted the plea from Arsene Wenger's side and Eduardo's suspension has been dropped, leaving him free to feature in their opening Group H clash away to Standard Liege on Wednesday.

A statement from Uefa on their official website read: "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 the panel's satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty."

alright now, at least we have something to cheer about

Eduardo's suspension is annulled by Uefa

On Monday evening, UEFA made the following announcement:


“The UEFA Appeals Body today accepted the appeal lodged by Arsenal FC against the two-match suspension handed to striker Eduardo.

“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 the panel's satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty.

“Therefore, the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body of 1 September, in which the player was suspended for two UEFA club competition matches, is annulled.”


Arsenal Football Club then released the following statement:


“We are grateful that the Appeals Body focused on the evidence and made the right decision in this case. We were able to show that there was contact between the goalkeeper and Eduardo and that the decision of the UEFA Disciplinary body should be annulled.

“We fully support the drive for fair play in football and believe it is important that UEFA provide clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced going forward.  


“We are glad to put this incident behind us and concentrate on the games ahead.”

Eduardo - We have finally arrived at the truth

Further to Uefa’s decision on Monday night, Eduardo has made the following comment to Arsenal.com:

“I’m very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth. All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better.

“I certainly feel relieved now. I have had great support from my family, friends and of course everyone at the Club.

“Now I just want to forget about this and think about our match against Standard Liege on Wednesday. I was always prepared for the match in Belgium because I had good feeling and I always remained positive about the outcome. Now we have a final result, I can now look forward to helping the team on Wednesday night.

“All I remember of the incident is that as soon as I had possession of the ball I headed towards goal at full speed. I was very close to the Celtic keeper and felt contact on my foot and then lost my balance. I know perhaps more than anyone else that when you have contact at speed it can be dangerous.

“I just want to say that I’m a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I’m not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals.”

Sorry to bring up Adec*ntor again, but I feel what this contributor on Football365's mailbox says is very true.
source