Initially, Mikel Arteta suggested Arsenal wouldn’t be appealing, telling the media: “The decision has been made, so that’s it.”
Arteta then gave a more ambiguous update early this week, saying: “I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances. They will have to decide it.
In the end, the club made the decision not to appeal, but the call was clearly not finalised for a few days.
Sami Mokbel reports for the Daily Mail that Arsenal analysts put together a video montage of similar decisions that weren’t deemed red-card offences in preparation for an appeal. But they decided against submitting it.
Sources reportedly claim that appealing the red card was never a realistic consideration given the likelihood of failure. The analysts were evidently just being prepared for all possibilities.
With Arsenal opting not to appeal, Saliba will be suspended for one match against Liverpool this weekend.
The defender was able to play against Shakhtar Donetsk, as suspensions don’t carry over into European competitions. He’ll now serve a one-match ban, given his red card was for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Straight red cards often carry longer bans of two or three games, in cases of dissent or violent conduct. But for this kind of offence, a one-game absence is all that’s required
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