Benfica rage at UEFA punishment

A spolkesman for Benfica has said on the clubs website that the sanctions passed out to Augustine Binya are "disproportionate" and "harsh".

Speaking on the result of the UEFA ruling, club spokesman Ricardo Maio "This is a harsh sanction, and is disproportionate,"

"Binya did not oppose the referee's decision. And he was concerned about the other player's condition. Afterwards he even apologised."

So you can excuse a tackle like that as long as the player does not contend the referees decision and apologises afterwards? I don’t think so! That challenge was a deliberate attempt to seriously injure a player. What is more one wonders what the inspiration was for such a ferocious challenge? The match was hardly dirty in that respect. Had Binya put a legal challenge in he may have won the ball and his team could have went onto equalise so one really has to wonder why a player should stamp out like that to win a ball that an opposition midfielder has over-ran deep in his own half?

To call a six-match ban for that ‘tackle’ disproportionate is a joke. It would have been disproportionate if he had only received the standard two-match ban for a straight red. This can hardly be described as anything other than proportionate!

Yours in Celtic

Clydebuilt