UANL Tigres, Santos Laguna Players Face Suspensions In Clausura After Liguilla Final

Thanks to the red cards that they picked up in the second leg of the 2011 Apertura Liguilla final, all three of Oswaldo Sanchez, Felipe Baloy and Israel Jimenez will face suspensions for the beginning of the 2012 Clausura. Fortunately for all of them, the suspensions are nothing like the ones faced by Cruz Azul players after their fight in the 2011 Clausura Liguilla, but they will be damaging to their teams nonetheless.

Sanchez, the Santos goalkeeper, will face only the normal one-match ban for his straight red card, picked up for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity early in the match. Both Baloy and Jimenez, the defenders who were involved in a fight later in the match, will be suspended three games each for their teams.

Baloy apparently still does not understand why he was sent off. While the initial red card was suspect, the suspension isn't. Following the sending off, Baloy was aggressive towards the referee. Had he simply walked off the pitch (or just protested in a less aggressive fashion), Baloy would be sitting out one game instead of three.