Macarthur FC defender Ivan Vujica will be free to play against A-League Men leaders Wellington after Football Australia found his red card against Sydney FC was "unnecessary".
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But Melbourne Victory defender Jason Geria has been handed a two-match ban, ruling him out of both Saturday's clash with Western Sydney and next week's elimination final, for his own red-card offence.
Geria will appeal the sanction through the independent disciplinary and ethics committee.
Vujica was sent off in the 35th minute on Saturday for a challenge on star Sydney striker Joe Lolley during the Bulls' 1-0 victory.
The left-back was initially shown the yellow card at Campbelltown Stadium for catching Lolley on the ankle in a challenge for the ball, but was given his marching orders following VAR involvement.
FA rescinded Vujica's direct red card on Monday after the club submitted an obvious error application to the match review panel.
Nathan Magill, FA head of referees, conceded the red card was "not warranted".
"It appears that the Video Assistant Referee has overly concentrated on the point of contact," Magill said in a statement on Monday.
"Although the contact was made at the ankle/lower shin, it was brief and occurred with the leg raised, which mitigates the severity of the force used.
"Considering the nature of the contact, the incident was handled appropriately on-field.
"Consequently, the intervention by the Video Assistant Referee was unnecessary as the situation did not meet the threshold for a 'clear and obvious error'.
"The decision to escalate from a yellow to a red card was not warranted."
Lolley himself felt the challenge merited nothing worse than a yellow card.
The Englishman's Sky Blues have had a torrid run with red cards this season, being forced to play almost 60 minutes when a man down on five occasions.
"He's (Vujica) caught me a little bit but it's just football. You see those challenges every week," Lolley told Paramount+ and Ten Bold after the match.
"It makes you scared of trying to even make a tackle. The statistics are there and it's just a stupid amount of reds at the moment. They are ruining games of football.
"I tried to tell the ref it's never a red."
Macarthur then lost fellow defender Tommy Smith in the 65th minute after another VAR check upgraded his yellow card.
New Zealand international Smith raised his arm and caught Sydney's Brazilian striker Fabio Gomes in the face but, like Vujica's challenge, the contact did not appear to be particularly dangerous or malicious.
His appeal that the red card was an obvious error was dismissed and he will serve a one-match ban, missing Saturday's match against Wellington.
Geria received his marching orders after catching Brisbane's Corey Brown in the shin with his studs when making a slide tackle in Saturday's 0-0 draw at AAMI Park.
He was originally booked but after a VAR referral, the challenge was upgraded to a red card.
The MRP proposed a two-match suspension, being the minimum sanction for the offence plus one additional match.
Australian Associated Press
