FA reject appeals
21 Nov 2006 - 14:43:08
The Football Association has rejected appeals for wrongful dismissal from Blackburn's Tugayand Tottenham's Hossam Ghaly following Sunday's ill-tempered 1-1 draw between the two sides at Ewood Park.
Tugay was handed a red card for bringing down Ghaly in an incident that allowed Jermain Defoe to fire home Spurs' equaliser from the penalty spot, while Ghaly was dismissed for allegedly elbowing Michael Gray in stoppage time.
After the game Rovers manager Mark Hughes blasted referee Phil O'Dowd's decision to send Tugay off, saying: "I didn't think it was a penalty.
"I thought the guy skipped inside Tugay and lost his footing. I've seen it time and time again and there's very minimal contact so we feel very aggrieved to be honest.
"Tugay had scored a fantastic goal, had a real influence on the game in a positive way and he gets taken out of the game.
Tugay will serve a one-match suspension and Ghaly a three-match ban.