Djibobji banned for two games
March 23, 2016
Werder Bremen defender Papy Djilobodji has had his punishment for making an obscene gesture in the club's 1-1 draw with Mainz on Saturday reduced from three games to two.
A DFB panel had initially decided to ban the player for three games, following a precident set by St Pauli forward Deniz Naki who made a similar throat-slitting gesture in 2009. Yet following an appeal by the Bundesliga club and a further review by a solitary DFB judge the sentence has been reduced by one game.
TV footage showed the Senagelese international running his finger across his throat, in a gesture directed towards Mainz player Pablo De Blasis after the two players collided in the game.
Following a statement from the DFB, Bremen launched a formal appeal, asking the German governing body to review the suspension.
"We consider this retroactive suspension of three competitive games to be unjustified," general manager Thomas Eichin said in a statement posted on Bremen's website. "Above all, because in our view, the intensity and the degree of wrongdoing in this case can be considered lesser than in Deniz Naki's case, considering the surrounding circumstances."
The reduced punishment now means that the Chelsea loanee will be out of action for three consecutive games after coincidentally picking up another punishment in Saturday's game, after picking up his fifth yellow card of the Bundesliga season.
The 29-year-old will miss Bremen's next three league games a they take on Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg and Wolfsburg.
sb/msh (AP, dpa)