UEFA Champions League Season 2009/2010

[Paixao]

i think chelsea have a harder group than liverpool, imo

thats a good thing.

Porto is not what they used to be. They are weaker now. Mainly after selling Lisandro and Lucho.

[Subject Delta]

Uefa has charged Arsenal's Eduardo for "deceiving the referee" after he appeared to dive to win a penalty in the Champions League win over Celtic.

European football's governing body could ban the Croatian striker for up to two games when its disciplinary body examines the case on 1 September.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger called the decision a "complete disgrace".

"It singles out a player to be a cheat and that is not acceptable. We will not accept the way Uefa have treated this."

If Eduardo is suspended he would miss Standard Liege away on 16 September and the home match with Olympiacos on 29 September.

And Wenger added: "I believe you can debate whether it is a penalty or not. But this charge implies that with intent and with a desire to cheat the referee, Eduardo did act.

"Having seen again the pictures, nothing is conclusive on that."

There appeared to be no contact between Eduardo and Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc but referee Manuel Gonzalez still gave a penalty midway through the first half.

After Eduardo converted the resulting spot kick, the Gunners went on to win 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. They won 5-1 on aggregate to secure a spot in the group stages.

Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith has called for the Brazil-born Eduardo to be banned over Wednesday's penalty incident at the Emirates.

"Eduardo showed disrespect to the game by his actions," he said.

"We have shown courage to use retrospective punishment when it comes to simulation. I'd urge Uefa to do so.

"Since I came into post I have raised the issue of simulation time and time again - both here in Scotland and with Fifa and Uefa.

"I don't think that I have received enough support in my efforts to eradicate what I believe to be one of the most serious threats to the integrity of football.

"Last night showed exactly why we must take this issue seriously.

"Everything that can be done to stamp it out must be done. Starting right now."

Uefa president Michel Platini believes additional assistant referees behind each goal line would combat diving.

He said: "One day players will give up simulating because refs will see them. I am convinced that you have referees nearby, then you will stop this."

Celtic had travelled to the Emirates 2-0 down from the first leg in Glasgow, when Arsenal had been the better side but had scored with a deflection and an own goal.

The first goal in London, then, was likely to be crucial and Boruc was incensed when Gonzalez pointed to the spot.

"I see no reason why we cannot use technology to assist referees," said Smith.

"We need a serious debate on these issues. Everyone in football has a responsibility to set the right example to our youngsters.

"We can talk all we want about Fair Play campaigns, but taking action would be a much more powerful deterrent and would send the right message to players everywhere."

Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati is another who is keen to see Uefa use video evidence.

"If it is clear on TV, then Uefa must act and ban him," said Donati.

"I think he should get a two-match ban because it wasn't a penalty. I told him that and everyone in the Celtic team told him that."

Donati believes Eduardo should be treated the same way as Lithuania striker Saulius Mikoliunas, who was punished for diving against Scotland at Hampden Park in September 2007.

After that occasion Uefa used video evidence before giving Mikoliunas a two-match ban.

Source: BBC News

[Rappy Veteran]

^^

as he should it was abysmal :no:

[Subject Delta]

Agreed. I think Diving needs to be stamped out, and imposing harsh penalties (pun lol) is the only way to do it

[Rappy Veteran]

I just heard Wenger bitching about how bad it is UEFA are taking action :laugh:

[nothuman]

He is simply doing his job, protecting his players before a big game. (we gonna crush you Arsene :p )

[Rappy Veteran]

anyone watching European Super Cup?

bit weird that Shak's defender joins Barcelona after this game :rofl:

[Subject Delta]

I just heard Wenger bitching about how bad it is UEFA are taking action :laugh:

He should teach his players not to cheat then. Really he has no defence. Players get punished retroactively for other things like bad tackles and unsporting behaviour, so why not for diving as well. For me Eduardo has no legitimate defence to this one, the replays which I have watched from every angle make it quiet clear that he dived.

[Rappy Veteran]

anyone watching European Super Cup?

bit weird that Shak's defender joins Barcelona after this game :rofl:

Well that was boring actually...Pedro looks another star though for Barca

[Rappy Veteran]

Eduardo banned for 2 games in CL!

[Subject Delta]

Good, he deserves it. Lets hope it sends a strong message out to anyone else thinking of cheating.

[Kralik]

Priceless!! :p

[Rappy Veteran]

Uefa overturns Eduardo diving ban

Uefa has overturned its decision to ban Arsenal striker Eduardo for two Champions League games for diving.

The Croat was suspended after being found guilty of diving to win a penalty in the Champions League qualifier against Celtic on 26 August.

But on Monday, Uefa accepted Arsenal's appeal and he will now be eligible to play in their opening two Group H ties.

"I'm very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth," said Eduardo in a statement on the Arsenal website.

"All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better.

"I just want to say that I'm a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I'm not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals."

Arsenal also welcomed Uefa's decision.

[Subject Delta]

UEFA officially has no balls. His ban should have been increased, not rescinded it was a blatant dive.

[Anatolian]

Champions League gets underway

15 September 2009 (All times are CET)

Atl?tico 20:45 APOEL

Beşiktaş 20:45 Man. United

Chelsea 20:45 Porto

Juventus 20:45 Bordeaux

Maccabi Haifa 20:45 Bayern

Marseille 20:45 Milan

Wolfsburg 20:45 CSKA Moskva

Z?rich 20:45 Real Madrid

16 September 2009 (All times are CET) u>

Dynamo Kyiv 20:45 Rubin

Internazionale 20:45 Barcelona

Liverpool 20:45 Debrecen

Lyon 20:45 Fiorentina

Olympiacos 20:45 AZ

Sevilla 20:45 Unirea Urziceni

Standard 20:45 Arsenal

Stuttgart 20:45 Rangers

[Kralik]

A statement from UEFA read: "Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees' assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to the panel's satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty.

"Therefore, the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body of 1 September, in which the player was suspended for two UEFA club competition matches, is annulled."

Justice is done to Arsenal.. to single out one player and call him a cheater was unfair.. especially when Shrek got away with 2 in a row and so many players do it everyday.. even more unfair was the punishment coz there is already a punishment for "simulation" under the law and thats a yellow card and 2 game ban even exceeded a red card.. UEFA made the right decision.. it takes a big man to admit he made the wrong call.. I would also like to say IYF Scot FA!!

Wow! and I never thought I'll be using Arsenal and justice in the same sentence.. but seriously UEFA HAD to overturn this before UCL started.. they couldn't handle the flood of appeals coming in if they went along with this..

UEFA officially has no balls. His ban should have been increased, not rescinded it was a blatant dive.

I didn't you are against diving so much.. lets hear you when Stevie G does it next time :whistle:

[Subject Delta]

I didn't you are against diving so much.. lets hear you when Stevie G does it next time :whistle:

I don't think Steve doing it is any more acceptable than if any other player doing it, if he does it as blatantly as Eduardo did, and there is evidence of that then he should get banned as well, I think the rule should be applied to ALL teams, including Liverpool

And hell unlike some players, Steve doesn't make a career out of diving

[Rappy Veteran]

I still can't believe it UEFA didn't keep their nerve even tho Eduardo clearly went down on his own accord.

[Shibby]

For me UEFA and FIFA seem a mile wide apart. Fifa increase a player fine on appeal (Mutu), Uefa can't even get any sort of fine or ban done.

[Anatolian]

Last night on CL;

Juventus 1-1 FC Girondins de Bordeaux

Maccabi Haifa FC 0-3 FC Bayern M?nchen

VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 PFC CSKA Moskva

Beşiktaş JK 0-1 Manchester United FC

FC Z?rich 2-5 Real Madrid CF

Olympique de Marseille 1-2 AC Milan

Chelsea FC 1-0 FC Porto

Club Atl?tico de Madrid 0-0 APOEL FC

[Subject Delta]

United and Chelsea need to pick their form up when they come up against the bigger sides

[Rappy Veteran]

tbh last nights game were a bit boring infact I turned them off

[deletedxyz]

Arsenal is one down. >_<

[DrunkenBeard]

Arsenal ... 2-0 ... 5mins :D

[Anatolian]

Arsenal ... 2-0 ... 5mins :D

Arsenal sucks...