Arsenal weigh up appeal against Eduardo ban

Arsenal will study UEFA’s justification for handing Eduardo a two-match European ban for diving before deciding whether to appeal against the verdict.

European football’s governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against the Croatia international for “deceiving the referee” after he tumbled theatrically to win a penalty in last week’s Champions League play-off against Celtic.

Despite there appearing to be no contact with Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc, referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez awarded the spot-kick, which Eduardo converted himself to set Arsenal on their way to a comprehensive 3-1 win and into the lucrative group stages.

The dive caused a storm of controversy and UEFA took action against Eduardo on Tuesday. Arsenal are understood to have made a 19-page submission to UEFA ahead of the hearing, which clearly made little impact on the panel.

The Gunners have three days to lodge an appeal against the suspension which, if upheld, would rule Eduardo out of the Champions League group matches away at Standard Liege on September 16 and at home to Olympiacos on September 29.

“The club is disappointed with UEFA’s decision to suspend Eduardo for two Champions League matches starting with Standard Liege on September 16,” a statement from Arsenal read.

“We have been informed that we will receive a ‘reasoned decision’ from UEFA by Thursday of this week.

“Once we receive UEFA’s rationale, we will make a decision on the next steps.

“We have been deeply frustrated by the perfunctory and apparently arbitrary process that UEFA has followed in this instance.

“We believe it is imperative that UEFA’s explanation for its decision provides clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced.

“It is also critical that UEFA provides specific details of the processes it plans to adopt in reviewing all games under its jurisdiction.”