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FOOTBALL

Zlatan on target as red card appeal is rejected

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has lost his appeal for a reduction of a three match ban.

AC Milan’s appeal on behalf of the Swedish striker was on Wednesday rejected by the Italian Football Federation’s disciplinary commission.

The tall Swede was handed a three-game ban after he was sent-off against Fiorentina for swearing at a linesman.

Ibrahimovic later claimed in a press conference he had sworn at himself and was merely looking at the official by chance.

However, he was handed a three game which has been upheld on appeal.

He missed last weekend’s 3-0 win over Sampdoria and will now also be out of the up-coming games against Brescia and Bologna.

He was however able on Wednesday to demonstrate what the Rossoneri fans have been missing, scoring the opening goal in a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Italian cup semi-final clash against Palermo.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani complained that the punishment was unfair.

“It’s useless me saying what I think, there’s no point and we’ll accept the decision,” he said during the club’s AGM.

“However, I keep seeing players behave in such a way that is more deserving of a dismissal than that of Ibrahimovic but who get treated differently.”

“I believe Ibra was in part guilty but he is also always in the limelight.”

Milan had previously managed to get a ban reduced on appeal when Ibrahimovic was suspended for three games after being sent off for striking Bari’s Marco Rossi in the ribs.

Milan argued that his action could merely have been intended to push the defender away from the action zone to give him a better chance of winning the ball and his ban was reduced to two games, which freed him to play against Fiorentina.

Meanwhile at the AGM the club’s balance sheet was unanimously approved showing a loss of €69.7 million while revenues dropped from €307 million in 2009 to €253 million in 2010.

Club president Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter Barbara was also voted onto the board of directors.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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