Central Coast Mariners have accepted Roy O'Donovan's one-match suspension for elbowing Melbourne City's Michael Jakobsen but have bemoaned the "double whammy" penalty.
The A-League's Match Review Panel announced on Monday that O'Donovan, who was shown a red card against City last week, would serve the minimum penalty of a one-match ban.
While Central Coast coach Paul Okon had labelled the dismissal as "madness" after Thursday's match and called for the red card to be rescinded as had occurred with Melbourne Victory striker Besart Berisha just a week earlier, the Mariners accepted O'Donovan's penalty on Monday.
Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp couldn't resist criticising the situation, however, effectively claiming that Central Coast would be without O'Donovan for two matches after they played over an hour with 10 players versus City.
"Whilst we accept the decision and understand the process, this hurts as a double whammy," Mielekamp said.
Next Match
"Not only did Roy miss out on 70 minutes against City but he now also misses an additional match.
"The MRP did what they could within the regulations they have before them and as a club we could not risk the possibility of missing Roy for an additional week if we put in an appeal for an obvious error that has such a high threshold.
"To ensure better consistency there should be parameters or avenues that protect the player and the club from being dealt a double blow."
O'Donovan will miss Central Coast's clash with Perth Glory on Saturday.
