Quintero ban reduced to four matches
Reuters - Saturday 09 April 2011, 00:08
MEXICO CITY - Santos Laguna's
Colombian striker Darwin Quintero's six-game ban for violent
conduct has been reduced to four matches, the Mexican Football
Federation (Femexfut) said on Friday
The Femexfut's disciplinary committee, which handed Quintero
a six-match suspension on Monday, reduced the sanction on appeal
from Santos.
"After analysing the evidence supplied by the club, in the
second sanction it is clear the hit made by Darwin Quintero is
not violent so it is reduced to one match (from three),"
Femexfut said in a statement.
Quintero had been given two bans of three matches each after
being sent off in the 71st minute of Santos' 3-0 win over Cruz
Azul last Saturday when he headbutted opponent Christian
Gimenez.
The 23-year-old said he had reacted to being racially abused
by Rogelio Chavez, an accusation the Cruz Azul defender has
denied.
Quintero will miss four of the remaining five matches in the
round-robin phase of the Clausura championship including
Saturday's visit to title holders Monterrey, returning against
Estudiantes UAG on April 29.
Santos have also lost goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, a
37-year-old veteran of three World Cups, for the rest of the
season with a broken toe following an accident at his home, the
team's coach Diego Cocca told reporters.
Santos, runners-up to Monterrey in the Apertura in the first
half of the season, are fifth in Group One, 10 points adrift of
leaders Tigres UANL and seven behind Monterrey.
The top two teams in each of the three groups plus the next
two best-placed teams in the overall standings go through to the
knockout phase.