Olivier Giroud’s red card in the final moments of the 2-2 draw against Lecce this afternoon was another blow, and there is a chance he could be given a lengthy ban.
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Giroud was given his marching orders after he showed dissent and expressed a lot of frustration after he claimed that the referee Abisso had missed a handball from Lecce that should have been called.
According to MilanNews, it is a red card could keep the French striker – who scored the opening goal to add to his winner in midweek and brace versus Napoli – out for a surprisingly long time.
The Sporting Judge will make the decisive call on how many games of suspension Giroud gets, and that in turn depends on what Abisso will write in his match report.
If Giroud falls into the category of displaying a ‘particularly disrespectful attitude towards the referee or the referee’s assistants’ then he could be banned for as many as four games.
Until recently article 36 (Other conduct towards match officials) of the Sports Justice Code read as follows:
“Disqualification is imposed as a minimum sanction on the players and coaches responsible for the infractions indicated below, committed on the occasion or during the match, save for the application of mitigating or aggravating circumstances: a) for two days or for a fixed period in the case of abusive or disrespectful conduct towards match officials.”
On 21 April 2023, however, there was a change. The new text of article 36 (Other conduct towards match officials) reads as follows:
“Disqualification is imposed as a minimum sanction on the players and coaches responsible for the infractions indicated below, committed on the occasion or during the match, save for the application of mitigating or aggravating circumstances: a) for 4 games or for a fixed period in case of abusive or disrespectful conduct towards match officials.”
There is a genuine risk that Giroud will get a four-match ban after the red card this evening. As mentioned, it depends on what Abisso says happened/was said and what the Sporting Judge Gerardo Mastrandrea deems appropriate.
