KEVIN Muscat is staring down the barrel of the longest ban in A-League history for an outfield player for his gruesome tackle on Adrian Zahra in the Melbourne derby at the weekend.
The match review panel today passed the incident onto the disciplinary committee to deal with as they felt it deserved longer than the maximum five week ban they can impose.
The Melbourne Victory skipper scythed down the young Heart star late in the second half, ending the youngster's season with a serious knee injury.
Muscat was just back from serving a suspension for a red card, and had already been yellow carded in the derby prior to the straight red card offence.
Muscat left the field arguing with the ref about the dismissal, claiming he got the ball, although video replays showed he missed the ball entirely before upending Zahra in the impact.
The tackle has inflamed the football community and led to some calls for a life ban for Muscat, 37.
He has previously had similar incidents with other players such as Craig Bellamy, Matty Holmes and Christophe Dugarry.
He had to pay $600,000 in damages to Holmes in 2004 for ending the player's career in the 1998 incident. At one stage doctors were considering amputating Holmes's leg.
Now the disciplinary committee will meet on Thursday to decide on Muscat's fate for the latest incident.
\"The MRP found that Kevin Muscat had committed an offence, namely Serious Foul Play (eg when challenging for the ball),\" said an FFA statement this evening.
\" The minimum sanction for this offence is one week under the Hyundai A-League Disciplinary Regulations.
\"Clause 9.22 of the FFA Hyundai A-League Disciplinary Regulations states that where the MRP forms the view that an additional sanction of greater than four matches (additional to the mandatory match suspension) is warranted, the MRP must refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee for hearing solely to determine the question of what additional sanction be imposed in accordance with these regulations (in addition to the mandatory match suspension which must be served).
\"The MRP has referred the matter to the Disciplinary Committee in accordance with clause 9.22. The Disciplinary Committee hearing will take place at 6.00pm, Thursday, 27 January at FFA Offices.\"
The current record suspension in the A-League is goalkeeper Danny Vukovic's six month ban for his clash with referee Mark Shields in the 2007/8 grand final.
* Meanwhile Sydney FC keeper Liam Reddy has been hit with a two match ban for his sneaky punch on Central Coast Mariners Matt Simon in a goalmouth scramble in their weekend clash. Sydney have until tomorrow to appeal.
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