Rufer handed one-match ban

Wellington Phoenix midfielder Alex Rufer will miss their clash with the Newcastle Jets on January 24 after being handed a one-match suspension following a red card that has since been apologised for.

The acknowledgement that referee Stephen Lucas’ decision to send Rufer off in Saturday’s draw with Macarthur FC was wrong wasn’t enough for him to avoid a suspension entirely, but the incident was reclassified from violent conduct to serious unsporting conduct by the independent match review panel.

That in turn meant that a minimum two-match suspension became a onematch suspension, which he will serve in two weeks’ time, when the Phoenix are next in action at their WIN Stadium home in Wollongong.

The Phoenix said they would accept the sanction, which came after A-League referees adviser Strebre Delovski apologised to coach Ufuk Talay and general manager David Dome following the incident an hour into Saturday’s match at Campbelltown Stadium.

After stretching out and kicking the ball away from the feet of Denis Genreau, Rufer tumbled over and his legs caught the legs of the Macarthur midfielder, who was seeking to join his team-mates in a counter-attack.

Rufer’s eyes were closed and there did not appear to be any intent, nor any recklessness on his part, but it caught the eye of video assistant referee (VAR) Kris Griffiths-Jones, who directed the man in the middle, Lucas, to take another look at the incident on the pitchside monitor and reconsider his original yellow card decision.

Dome said on Monday that Delovski had acknowledged that the VAR should not have intervened and that the red card should not have been shown.

There are, however, only limited circumstances where a red card can be rescinded – in cases where one has been shown to the wrong player or cases where neither a yellow or red card should have been shown.

‘‘While disappointed that the red card was issued in the first place, I think this result is the best that we could have expected,’’ Dome said yesterday.