Blackburn Rovers have submitted an official appeal to the EFL to have Scott Wharton's red card against Norwich City rescinded.
The defender was shown a straight red card at Carrow Road after bringing down Onel Hernandez in the 54th minute. Referee Josh Smith deemed that Wharton had fouled the Norwich attacker as last man back and was sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
On first viewing, it seemed the right decision but replays from behind the incident showed Wharton did get something on the ball. Jon Dahl Tomasson said post-match he felt the decision was 'soft' and Rovers would consider whether to submit an appeal.
The club have decided to try and get the decision overturned. All disciplinary matters are handled by The FA and notice of an appeal was sent in before Monday's 1pm deadline. The club now have until the same time on Tuesday to submit all of their evidence.
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The guidelines state that: "The player’s club must submit any evidence to support its claim by 13:00 on the second business day following the game. A Regulatory Commission will hear the case, and the onus is on the player’s club to demonstrate via video and/or written evidence only that the match official/s made an ‘obvious error’."
There are no set guidelines on when the appeal will be heard, though, in all likelihood, it would be before Friday's match against Preston North End. If the appeal is successful, Wharton will be eligible to play against PNE at Ewood Park.
The FA can extend a player's ban if they feel an appeal has been submitted 'with no prospect of success' and or 'amounts to an abuse of the process'. However, that is only in rare circumstances and would not be the case here.
Rovers are desperate for Wharton to be available considering their availability crisis at the back. First-choice centre-backs Hayden Carter and Dom Hyam are both out injured whilst Joe Rankin-Costello also went off with a 'worrying' hamstring injury at Carrow Road. Throw in Wharton's red card and James Hill is the only senior, fit centre-back at Tomasson's disposal.
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