Chelsea forward Pedro Neto has been handed a further one-game ban by the Football Association (FA) for his red card against Arsenal at the start of the month.
Neto was shown two yellow cards during the 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on March 1, one for dissent after Jurrien Timber's goal and another shortly after for taking down Gabriel Martinelli, thus stopping an Arsenal attack in the process.
The winger protested his innocence to referee Darren England before belatedly heading down the tunnel, with Chelsea playing the final 20 minutes plus stoppage time with a man less.
Neto was swiftly charged by the FA after it was alleged that he “acted in an improper manner by failing to leave the pitch promptly and/or using abusive words towards the match official/s”.
Neto had until March 9 to respond to the charge, which has now been proven. As a result, the winger has been handed an extended suspension as well as a £70,000 fine.
Neto served a one-match ban as he sat out Chelsea's impressive 4-1 win over Champions League qualification rivals Aston Villa just under a week ago.
He will now miss Saturday’s Premier League clash at home to Newcastle as the Blues aim to bounce back from the 5-2 loss at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
While Neto escaped without any punishment in-game after a VAR check for a potential red card, he could now face retrospective action.
There is no specified UEFA sanction for situations such as this, but it is understood that a one-game ban would be the likeliest punishment if European football’s governing body do deem him guilty of “unsporting behaviour”.
A timescale — including whether UEFA could punish the 26-year-old before Tuesday’s last-16 second leg against PSG at Stamford Bridge — is unknown. UEFA stated merely that an outcome could be expected “in due course”.
