Conmebol maintains suspension of Marcelo, who misses Fluminense in Libertadores

This Tuesday, the 22nd, the conmebol informed that he maintained the punishment of three games to the left-back Marcelo, who has already served one. The athlete of Fluminense will miss the team orange trees in the two games against Olympiaof Paraguayin the quarterfinals of Conmebol Libertadores.

Even participating in a video call with Appeal Committee of the entity to justify itself on the bid involving the serious injury of Luciano Sanchezof Argentine Juniorsduring the game valid for the round of 16, nothing helped to reduce Marcelo’s sentence.

Flu’s idea was to try to reset or at least reduce the penalty, but internally the club already knew it would be complicated. However, he considered that defending himself was fundamental. Firstly, to reaffirm that there was no malice in the bid, but also to show that the club wants to maintain an open dialogue with Conmebol. As for the entity, listening to Marcelo was a way of escaping the argument that he did not give the full-back a chance of defense.

The club even tried to ask for the annulment of the trial precisely because it had not accepted the request for the player to defend himself during the hearing. It was a last card, since the punishment applied coincidentally was the maximum penalty allowed without the right to appeal, in accordance with item “c” of the eighth paragraph of article 64 of the Conmebol Disciplinary Code. Cariocas can still resort to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), in the FIFA, within the 21 day period.

O Fluminense takes the field this Thursday, the 24th, at 21:30 (Brasília time) at Maracana. The return game will take place next Thursday, the 31st, at the same time, but at Paraguay. The club from Rio de Janeiro eliminated the Argentine Juniors to reach the quarterfinals, while the Olympia passed by Flamengo after a historic turning point.