Drogba and Bosingwa's bans reduced

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Didier Drogba will miss at least four European matches after being banned for his reaction to Chelsea's Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona.

The striker was banned for six games, with two suspended for two years.

His Blues team-mate Jose Bosingwa was banned for three European games, with a further one-match ban also suspended.

Both players were found guilty of making insulting comments to the referee by Uefa, which also handed Chelsea an £85,000 fine.

Chelsea were fined for the improper conduct of their players and the throwing of missiles by their fans after the controversial match on 6 May.

The Blues went out of the tournament after a series of disputed decisions by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.

He turned down a host of strong penalty appeals from Chelsea during the 1-1 draw in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, which saw Barca go through on away goals.

Drogba and several other players surrounded Ovrebo after the final whistle to remonstrate with the Norwegian.

The Ivorian continued his verbal attack even after being cautioned, and had to be restrained as Ovrebo went down the tunnel.

Drogba had stated that he would accept any punishment given to him by Uefa over his actions.

"My behaviour was not what Uefa and everyone wants to see in a football stadium," Drogba said ahead of the governing body's verdict.

"It's not easy but I think that whatever I did and the decision they take I will accept it.

"I will do my suspension and, after that, I will come back stronger."

From the BBC Sport page

[EskWeston 696]

Harsh on Bosingwa, especially considering the comments he made were not at the time of the game and the day after. Not as if it is the first time someone has made similar comments after a game, remember Henry in the arse CL final....

Plus the fine for the club for a couple of flags finding their way onto the pitch is also very harsh considering some of croud trouble that has happened and been punished far less for.

Once again UEFA are using rules and punishments that only relate to Chelsea FC. The club could use previous punishments for similar incidents to argue our case but they wont...

[Wxgba 306]

Bad times...

[Drogba11CFC 108]

Well, since when have UEFA supported free speech?

It's a disgrace.

More than that, it's a disgrace of the "fucking" variety.

You could say that it's the fucking kind of disgrace.

Alternatively, you could just say...

IT'S A FUCKING DISGRACE!

[Kez 2,727]

The way uefa treat Chelsea is a fucking disgrace

[Laylabelle 9,381]

FUCKING DISGRACE!!

Rooney can stand there ok in prem games but hey and stand at the ref and swear but not said!Arg!!

What pisses me off is the fact the ref..nout said!He caused it all!!!

[carefreeluke 27]

On the Drogba thing, i don't really blame him for his reaction after the game. It's a Champions League Semi final, there's a lot on the line, and i think you just get caught up in the moment. I don't blame Drogba for it at all.

Looks like Ivanovic is going to come in at right back. Hopefully Mancienne will get a chance then again i doubt it.

Drogba will be missed though in them games, Bosingwa can be replaced. Drogba, is very important too us especially in the Champions League.

[chrismada9 1,948]

DISGRACEFUL! Fucking disgraceful!

And they don't even ban the referee for his bad decisions. Give me a break. It always seems to be us that gets mugged by UEFA with decisions like this. Funny how those decisions have always been after games against Barcelona too!

Well, with Drogba suspended for Europe, this makes it even more imperative to buy a world class striker this summer.

[Rambo 1,729]

We're lucky that Drogba isn't banned for the whole god damn tournament, we get him back in the 3rd round and that sounds reasonable. But Bosingwa for 3 games? What the hell is up with that. I love how they don't even mention anything about Ovrebo being a dickhead.

[Drogba11CFC 108]

Someone should give Platini a massive dose of extra strong laxatives, at least then the shit would come out the right end!

[Shane 2,275]

We can replace both of them tbh.

[Rambo 1,729]

We can replace both of them tbh.

I can trust Anelka and Ivanovic/Ferriera at the earlier stages of the CL, but later on I'm not so sure.

[We Hate Scouse 10,286]

Chelsea to Appeal Drogba Ban

Blues Fight Drogba Ban

Hopefully he gets it lowered, because thats just disgraceful what he has now.

[Rambo 1,729]

Nice to hear Chels fighting back!

[Kez 2,727]

Lets hope Chelsea can do something about it!

[Morpheus 8]

rascism.

[jerryballoono 0]

Besiktas have had the same problem with refereeing decisions out here in Turkey over the years, fortunately they dont go in for all that "respect" Bullshit here & a bad ref (& his linesmen) can expect to require a tunnel of riot shields to in order to exit the pitch without injury. Needless to say Turkish teams often get to play matches in closed stadiums as this happens whenever one of the big teams here looses.

Earlier this season our president even encouraged the fans to take action (unspecified) against bad refereeing decisions, presumably to remove the necessity for the players to become involved & risk a ban. The club flooded the internet with clips showing the refereeing inconsistencies to justify their comments too, & requested UEFA to review the situation - Nothing more was heard of the latter of course & Bugger all happened.

[Drogba11CFC 108]

I was always tought that respect is to be earned.