Mane’s foot-up ban stands

LIVERPOOL have lost an appeal over the length of Sadio Mane’s three-match ban after the forward was sent off during last Saturday’s 5-0 defeat by Manchester City.

The Football Association said yesterday that an independent regulatory commission hearing had rejected the player’s claim of excessive punishment and the suspension remained in place.

The Senegal international was shown a straight red card for a high studs challenge that caught City’s Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson on the head in the 37th minute.

He will now miss Saturday’s Premier League match against Burnley and two games at Leicester City, one in the league and one in the League Cup.

Mane will, however, be available for the Champions League tie at home to Sevilla today.

Liverpool had not appealed the dismissal but argued the ban was too harsh for the incident.

The incident had divided observers and pundits, with Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp saying Mane had not deserved to be sent off.

Ederson was named in City’s travelling squad for their opening Champions League Group F game against Dutch side Feyenoord in Rotterdam.

The goalkeeper stretchered off after Saturday’s clash and required eight stitches.

Tickets for the 2018 World Cup in Russia go on sale from Thursday, Fifa has said.

Tickets will be sold in two phases, the first of which has an application period which runs from September 14 to October 12. Fans can apply for individual match tickets, tickets for a specific venue or ticket strips to follow the national team of their choice in this phase.

Applications can only be made on the Fifa website – www.fifa.com/tickets – Reuters