West Brom’s Pablo Ibanez wins appeal
West Bromwich Albion have won their appeal to rescind Pablo Ibanez’s red card after the defender was sent off in the Premier League match with Blackpool on Monday 1 November.
The Baggies were delighted to hear that the Football Association had decided to not place a ban on Ibanez for the professional foul.
The defender will now be available for West Brom’s Premier League match with Manchester City at the Hawthorns on Sunday 7 November.
Referee Michael Oliver believed that Ibanez was guilty of a professional foul in the match which prompted West Brom to issue a club statement that said, "The club believe, having viewed various TV angles, Ibanez was wrongfully dismissed."
Oliver awarded a penalty in the incident and sent off Ibanez as he judged the Spaniard to be the last defender, despite the West Brom team claiming that they had a number of players that would have covered Blackpool striker DJ Campbell scoring.
In addition, West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo was forced to change his team formation and replace the hard working Simon Cox up front with central midfielder Steven Reid.
The foul looked very harsh on Ibanez who appeared to have made only slight contact with the Blackpool player before the striker fell, but the referee made his decision. Charlie Adam scored from the resulting penalty.
Di Matteo could not complain about Oliver’s decision to send off Gonzalo Jara for a dangerous tackle on Blackpool’s Luke Varney and with West Brom down to nine men it was always likely that Blackpool would win.
The club decided not to appeal Jara’s red card, but they will feel that their decision to appeal Ibanez’s red was vindicated.
Ibanez will now turn his attention to the match against Manchester City who will expect to beat West Brom and take three points.
Tags: