Chelsea and England’s Frank Lampard has had his red card appeal upheld by an FA panel and will not serve a ban.

 

The midfielder was sent off by referee Mike Riley following a challenge with Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso in which Alonso appeared to be the guilty party. General opinion was that Riley did not have the best of games, failing to punish Steven Gerrard for a much worse challenge and also deciding to take no action again Chelsea’s Jose Bosingwa who stamped on the back of Yossi Benayoun in full view of the linesman. Bosingwa has since apologised for his moment of madness but cannot be punished as, under FIFA rules, if the officials see an incident, their actions at the time are deemed sufficient.

Stamford Bridge boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is now able to select Lampard for up and coming games against Hull, Watford and Aston Villa. Last March, Lampard was sent off against West Ham and also had that red card rescinded on appeal.