SOCCER NEWS: EDUARDO DA Silva's two-match ban for diving was dramatically overturned by Uefa yesterday, clearing the forward to play in Arsenal's opening Champions League game at Standard Liege tomorrow.
In a move welcomed by a “grateful” Arsenal and a “relieved” Eduardo, Uefa’s appeals body annulled the decision made by its control and disciplinary body a fortnight ago. The U-turn will be widely regarded as a blow to attempts to crack down on diving.
Arsenal have consistently denied that Eduardo cheated to win a penalty in a Champions League game against Celtic and the panel which heard the appeal said that, after studying evidence including video replays, it was not satisfied that “the referee had been deceived”.
“I certainly feel relieved now,” Eduardo said. “Now I just want to forget about this and think about our match against Standard Liege. Now we have a final result, I can now look forward to helping the team on Wednesday night.”
The decision was also welcomed by Arsenal, who had submitted a lengthy dossier in defence of the forward, who was awarded a penalty after tumbling in the wake of a sliding challenge by the Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Eduardo converted the penalty which put Arsenal 3-0 ahead on aggregate in a tie they won 5-1.
“We are grateful that the appeals body focused on the evidence and made the right decision,” the club said.
“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.”
GuardianService
