Melbourne Victory to consider additional sanctions for coaches
Melbourne Victory will consider an additional club sanction for coaches Jean-Paul de Marigny and Dean Anastasiadis but will shield their players from the transgressions of their trainers as they prepare for the A-League grand final.
De Marigny, Kevin Muscat’s assistant, and Anastasiadis, the goalkeeping coach, leapt from the bench in the wake of Terry Antonis’s extratime winner in Saturday night’s semi-final against Sydney FC.
The goal put Victory in Saturday’s grand final against Newcastle Jets and sparked pandemonium at Allianz Stadium. The coaches ran onto the ground and made contact with Sky Blues players, with De Marigny appearing to make contact with the face of David Carney in unprecedented scenes.
A three-hour late-night hearing on Sunday served De Marigny and Anastasiadis with four-game bans for violent conduct. And on Monday morning, Victory chief executive Trent Jacobs left open the door for a more weighty punishment.
“The coincident was disappointing in what was a incredible rollercoaster of game,” he told SEN. “We certainly don’t condone their actions. They are very much remorseful and regret what occurred.”
Jacobs said the matter would be discussed at a board meeting on Monday but not announced until after Saturday’s decider. “We will now consider our position today ... if there’s anything we want to do further it would be deferred to after the grand final,” he said. “Our clear focus this week will be that the preparation of the players remains uninterrupted.”
In the aftermath of Victory’s semi-final win, Muscat said the red cards shown to the pair was punishment enough and they should be free to coach in the grand final. De Marigny has suggested he believed the match was over due to Antonis scoring a golden goal – a rule that hasn’t been used worldwide for more than a decade.
The FFA ban means Muscat’s lieutenants will be unable to play their usual match-day roles. De Marigny and Anastasiadis will be effectively banned from associating with the team at McDonald Jones Stadium, including the dressing room, technical area and field of play. But they will be allowed to celebrate or commiserate with the team on the field and in the rooms after the fulltime whistle, according to an FFA spokesperson.