Wouter Goes hears reduced KNVB punishment after red card appeal | OneFootball

The appeal filed by AZ and Wouter Goes has had its effect. The defender has seen his three-match suspension brought down to two, with one conditional.

The KNVB public prosecutor had initially demanded a three-match ban for the AZ centre-back’s rash challenge on Go Ahead’s Enric Llansana, with one of these conditional. However, the disciplinary committee has now reduced this to two matches, with one conditional. Goes will therefore miss the upcoming home match against FC Groningen.

Goes received support from Deventer on Thursday, with Mats Deijl stating in a written statement that he found the red ‘heavy’ or harsh. Llansana was also called as a witness. The midfielder spoke out about the violation via a video connection.

“Wouter has been very unlucky, on images you can see that he touches the ball. He goes for the ball with full force, this was a football action that should simply be possible.” The fact that Llansana subsequently suffered was not due to the violation. “No, my back hurt from the fall.”

Ron Vlaar also put his two cents in by acting as an ‘expert in slidings and tackles’. “I don’t like injustice”, said the former defender, who also thought red was exaggerated. “A textbook example of a perfectly executed sliding.” Referee Bas Nijhuis, however, stuck to his position and still called it ‘serious foul play’.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield