Football
AAP 6y

Melbourne Victory's Jean-Paul de Marigny, Dean Anastasiadis get four-game bans

Melbourne Victory assistant coach Jean-Paul de Marigny and goalkeeping coach Dean Anastasiadis have been give four-game A-League bans after being dismissed late in their semifinal win over Sydney FC.

The pair were red-carded at Allianz Stadium for their parts in a moment of madness with the Sky Blues camp after Terry Antonis scored the winner late in extra time.

De Marigny burst onto the pitch and, in a heated altercation with David Carney, appeared at one point to swipe a hand across the Sydney utility's face.

Anastasiadis also joined the confrontation and was dismissed by referee Kurt Ams.

The match review panel (MRP) found the pair guilty of committing "assault on a player, team official, spectator or any other person other than a match official."

The panel issued an extra three-weeks suspension on top of the mandatory week for their red cards.

De Marigny and Anastasiadis have until 4 p.m. on Monday to appeal against the sanction, which leaves coach Kevin Muscat without two key figures for Saturday's grand final against Newcastle.

The decision comes after Muscat pleaded with the MRP to spare his assistants, saying their actions needed to be seen in the context of a huge win.

"Football is an emotional game. Sometimes when someone gets overly emotional we want to jump on them and crucify them," Muscat said.

"When there's no emotion, it's boring. I'm hoping common sense will prevail, and I'm pretty sure it will."

^ Back to Top ^