Ahli won't appeal Barakat yellow

Ahli assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri revealed that the club have no intention of appealing against Mohamed Barakat's yellow card in the goalless draw with Etoile Sahel.

كتب : Hatem Maher

الأحد، 28 أكتوبر 2007 - 21:39
Ahli assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri revealed that the club have no intention of appealing against Mohamed Barakat's yellow card in the goalless draw with Etoile Sahel.

The mercurial midfielder was booked for an alleged diving in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League final in Sousse.

Television replays showed that Barakat was tugged inside the area but the referee believed that the Egyptian international dived to get a penalty.

"Such appeals are useless; the original decision is always upheld by (Confederation of African Football) CAF," Al-Badri told FilGoal.com.

"We will not include Barakat in our plans for the second-leg in Cairo, we are already assured that he will not be there.

"It is better not to affect the players' concentration by discussing whether Barakat will take part in the second-leg or not," he added.

Ahli coach Manuel Jose had earlier called for the yellow card to be rescinded but it is now clear that the five-time African champions will not lodge an appeal.