Vidic ban confirmed – 1 match only

30 January 09 by Bill

Nemanja Vidic gets sent off in the Club World CUp final FIFA have today confirmed that Nemanja Vidic will serve a one game suspension in the UEFA Champions League following the Serbian defender’s red card in the Club World Cup final. The defender also picked up a 5,000 Swiss francs fine which is a little over £3,000 or the equivalent to 7 minutes on the pitch.

The ban means Vidic, who currently tops the club’s appearance chart with 33, will miss United’s first leg trip to the San Siro to play Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan on 24th February.

A disciplinary committee met today to discuss whether to impose the automatic one match ban or extend it to three. Thankfully, the incident wasn’t deemed serious enough to warrant any more than a one match ban and Vidic will now be free to play in the second leg on 11th March.

A statement on the FA’s website today reads:

“Under the chairmanship of Marcel Mathier (Switzerland), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee today reviewed a number of cases and decided upon disciplinary sanctions following the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008.

“Takahiro Futagawa, of Gamba Osaka, following his sending-off in the third place play-off on 21 December 2008 has been suspended for two matches and fined CHF 7,000.

“Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United, following his sending-off during the final of the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup on 21 December 2008 has been suspended for one match and fined CHF 5,000.

“The suspensions will be carried over to the next club competition match(es) at confederation level, as stated in Article 38, par. 2 d) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. Both decisions are not subject to appeal.”