Iniesta escapes UEFA ban, to play in semi
Posted April 20, 2011 2:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BARCELONA, Spain — Andres Iniesta has been cleared to play the first leg of Barcelona’s Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid after UEFA ruled that the Spain midfielder did not intentionally provoke a yellow card in a match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
European football’s governing body decided against a proposed additional one-match suspension for Iniesta allegedly inducing a yellow card in the first leg of the knockout series against the Ukrainian side, which ruled him out of the return leg. UEFA also ruled out a fine.
Iniesta will therefore be available for the three-time champions’ visit to Santiago Bernabeu stadium on April 27.
UEFA’s disciplinary panel did fine Villarreal and its players Nilmar and Santi Cazorla after they appeared to get deliberate yellow cards in the Europa League quarterfinals, but declined to suspend them for the first leg of the semifinal against FC Porto on April 28.
UEFA fined Villarreal 60,000 euros (C$83,000) and the players 20,000 euro (C$27,700) each.
The Brazil forward and Spain midfielder were booked near the end of Villarreal’s 5-1 victory over FC Twente. They served bans activated by third yellow cards in the competition during the return leg as Villarreal easily advanced, giving them clean disciplinary records for the semifinal.
