LONDON: Arsenal announced they will mount an appeal against UEFA’s decision to ban their striker Eduardo for two matches for allegedly diving to win a penalty against Celtic in a Champions League qualifier. UEFA, European football’s governing body, ruled on Tuesday that Eduardo had been guilty of “deceiving the referee” by tumbling as Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc dived at his feet during last week’s second leg of the play-off tie. Television replays appeared to indicate that Boruc had not made any contact with the forward. Eduardo converted the resulting penalty to open the scoring and Arsenal went on to win the match 3-1, advancing to the group stage of the tournament 5-1 on aggregate. If the ban is upheld, Eduardo will miss Arsenal’s opening two matches in the group stage of the Champions League — against Standard Liege in Belgium on September 16 and at home to Olympiacos on September 29.

Chelsea to appeal

LONDON: Chelsea said Thursday they would “mount the strongest appeal possible” against FIFA’s decision to ban them from making any signings during the next two transfer windows. “The sanctions are without precedent to this level and totally disproportionate to the alleged offence and the financial penalty imposed,” the club said in a statement. Chelsea said they could not comment further until they had received a written explanation of the FIFA ruling over the club’s alleged ‘tapping up’ of French youngster Gael Kakuta when he was still playing for Lens. — AFP