A-League soccer coach Christope Gamel cops huge ban for assaulting a player from rival team

A member of the coaching staff of an A-League club has been suspended for six games for “assaulting” a player from a rival team.

Macarthur FC assistant coach Christophe Gamel will not return to the Bulls bench until the end of next month after Football Australia’s independent disciplinary and ethics committee increased his original two-match suspension by a further four matches following a minor incident. after the final whistle of his club’s match. 2-1 defeat against Newcastle on October 25.

Gamel’s action of shoving Jets goalkeeper Ryan Scott in a post-match melee resulted in referee Tim Danaskos showing him a red card.

After being reviewed by the match review panel, the incident was referred to the committee, which determined that Gamel had committed the offense of “assault on a player, team official, spectator or any other person other than a match referee.” , which resulted in a mandatory two-match ban.

Following further review of the incident, it was announced Tuesday night that Gamel’s suspension would be increased to six games.

With two games already played, Gamel can return to the bench for the Bulls’ game on December 23 against the Mariners.

That time period also takes into account that no A-League matches will be played this weekend due to the FIFA international break.

Bulls chief executive Sam Krslovic said the club would not appeal the decision despite believing the ban was “excessive”.

However, Krslovic said the FA and A-League had to “enforce” the rule that no coach or club official should enter the pitch during a match or while players were leaving the field.

“If that’s the vision, then it needs to be applied consistently across all games,” he said.

Krslovic also thanked the independent discipline and ethics committee for a “fair hearing” but also called for a review of the MRP system that led to the incident being sent to the committee instead of being dealt with immediately.