Melbourne Victory marquee signing Pablo Contreras will miss the club’s next two games, after being found guilty of violent conduct against Mate Dugandzic during the Melbourne Derby on Saturday.
The Chilean defender appeared to fell Heart winger Dugandzic with an arm across the throat in an off-the-ball incident that was missed by referee Peter Green and his assistants, but could not escape the television replays.
While Victory kept a clean sheet against their arch rivals, coach Ange Postecoglou was disappointed with the result and will probably be disappointed to lose a key player for the upcoming games.
The independent Match Review Panel consisting of Simon Micallef, Alan Davidson and Alan Contini convened and handed down a decision today, finding that Contreras was guilty of ““Assault on a Player (e.g. violent conduct when not challenging for the ball)”.
However, they also decided to impose the minimum sanction for such an offence under the A-League Discplinary Regulations, rubbing Contreras out for the Mandatory Match Suspension plus one additional game.