Aliadiere loses red card appeal
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The French striker was sent off by referee Lee Mason on Saturday after aiming a slap at Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, who had earlier appeared to make contact with his face in an off-the-ball incident.
Boro appealed on the grounds that the offence did not amount to violent conduct but a regulatory commission rejected the claim as "frivolous" and increased the mandatory three-match ban for the offence to four.
An FA statement said: "At a regulatory commission hearing today, a claim for wrongful dismissal from Middlesbrough's Jeremie Aliadiere was rejected.
"The commission decided that the claim was frivolous and increased Aliadiere's suspension from three matches to four matches as a result with immediate effect.
"Aliadiere was shown a red card for violent conduct following an incident during the second half of Middlesbrough's match against Liverpool on 23 February."
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hope he comes back to arsenal lol just kidding. I dont watch bpl anymore.
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Middlesbrough have launched an attack at disciplinary chiefs after Jeremie Aliadiere's appeal against his red rard at Liverpool was dismissed.
Boro chief executive Keith Lamb was fuming at the decision, branding it "a travesty of justice".
Lamb said: "We are furious and totally astounded that the commission, without consultation, should consider our appeal to be frivolous.
"Who are they to know our minds when we made this appeal?
"We are appalled at the decision and the entire process. How can nameless, faceless people on a commission decide that our genuine claim for equality and justice be dealt with in such a flippant manner?
"It is a disgraceful comment to suggest our claim was frivolous. We agonised over it before deciding to submit a claim for wrongful dismissal.
"The Oxford Dictionary definition of frivolous is 'not serious, shallow, silly or trifling', while in fact we spent more than two days considering whether or not to appeal the incident.
"It seems strange that only recently Chelsea's appeal against Michael Essien's three-match ban was rejected but not considered 'frivolous'.
"It appears that there is one rule for the big boys and another for the rest of us."
Lamb insisted Boro had decided to appeal only after studying television replays and canvassing opinion on the decision.
He said: "We considered Jeremie's dismissal to be extremely harsh.
"We find the inconsistency displayed in this whole incident unacceptable and quite unbelievable.
"According to the referee's report, he had a 'good, clear view' of the whole incident, including Javier Mascherano grabbing Jeremie Aliadiere's face and Jeremie's subsequent reaction.
"However, he decided that while Mascherano's actions were acceptable and needed no further action, our player's light flick was 'violent conduct' and merited a straight red card.
"How can it be fair that one player receive a straight red card while the other receives no punishment at all?
"To further quote the Oxford Dictionary, the adjective 'violent' is defined as 'involving great physical force', which anyone who has seen the incident hardly describes Jeremie's actions."
Aliadiere will miss tomorrow night's FA Cup fifth round replay against Sheffield United, Saturday's league clash with Reading and the trip to Aston Villa a week later.
Should Boro make the FA Cup quarter-finals, Aliadiere would sit out the last-eight showdown with Cardiff, but if they go out tomorrow night, he would be suspended for the return to former club Arsenal on March 15.
Lamb said: "If anything in this whole farcical affair was frivolous, it was the original incident.
"How on earth can Jeremie Aliadiere think he has been treated fairly in this whole charade when the outcome is clearly a travesty of justice?"
FA rules dictate that the regulatory commission can only rescind a red card when the referee has made a "clear and obvious error", and appeals where that is not found to be the case are regarded as frivolous.
It is understood Mr Mason saw the whole incident, but took no formal action against Mascherano.
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FOUR-GAME BAN FOR ALIADIERE
The FA have really pulled off a cracker here - no ban for William Gallas for kicking out at Nani, only a three-match ban for Martin Taylor for (accidentally) snapping Eduardo's ankle, but now a four-match ban for Jeremie Aliadiere for a little slap at Javier Mascherano in a tit-for-tat handbags. They weren't happy with the 'frivolous' nature of Boro's appeal.
Middlesbrough striker Jeremie Aliadiere has been handed a four-match ban after having his appeal against the red card he received at Liverpool rejected.
The Frenchman was sent off by referee Lee Mason at Anfield on Saturday after aiming a slap at Javier Mascherano, who had earlier appeared to make contact with his face in an off-the-ball incident.
Boro appealed on the grounds that the offence did not amount to violent conduct.
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Quiet unfair to me. Mascherano shouldnt have touched his face.