Celtic will consider an appeal against UEFA’s decision to sanction Jozo Simunovic with a two-game ban following his red card against Alashkert in the first round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary body yesterday increased the defender’s ban from a one-match automatic suspension to two games, meaning that he could face being sidelined for Celtic’s return leg against Rosenborg in Trondheim on Wednesday night.
Simunovic was red-carded in Celtic’s win over Alashkert for a high boot on Brazilian forward Jefferson but it was expected that he would be eligible for the return leg against Rosenborg.
Celtic will request the reasons from UEFA as to why they have opted to increase the sanction. Once they are in receipt of the full explanation for the decision made by the disciplinary panel they will weigh up whether or not to submit an appeal.
It is unlikely that it will be registered with the governing body before Monday, which could potentially free up the player to play against Rosenborg depending on when they appeal would be heard.
Simunovic’s suspension gave Celtic a headache ahead of the game against the Norwegians given the lack of alternative options. Dedryck Boyata is due to return to training on Monday while Mikael Lustig joined training last week after his time at the World Cup.
Moussa Dembele is still sidelined with a hamstring injury although Leigh Griffiths and Jonny Hayes returned to full training on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, claims that West Ham have shown an interest in Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham appear unfounded. It is understood that there has been no bid tabled for the 22-year-old and nor has there been any formal interest recorded in the player from the Premier League club.
Brendan Rodgers is keen to maintain his squad without selling off any of the assets that he feels can enable Celtic to engineer a third successive invitation to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Signed for £4.5m from Manchester City last term, Ntcham has become a pivotal cog of Celtic’s midfield and having nursed the player into regular first-team football, Rodgers will not welcome any moves to take him away just yet.
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