One of the big stories coming out of the first leg of the semifinal round of the 2018 Concacaf Champions League was the Disciplinary Committee action from the confederation.
In addition to fining both Toronto FC and Club América for their respective roles in a tunnel fracas at BMO Field, Chivas de Guadalajara captain Jair Pereira was suspended two games for choking the New York Red Bulls' Sean Davis in last week's first leg at the Estadio Akron. The action, clearly picked up by cameras but apparently missed by referee John Pitti during the game, came during a dead ball situation with the teams scuffling following a separate yellow-card foul, when Pereira came in to briefly put his hand around Davis' neck.
In spite of that, Chivas coach Matias Almeyda is hopeful Pereira will be able to play in the second leg on Tuesday at Red Bull Arena (8 pm ET | UDN, go90.com).
"Chivas is going to file an appeal," said Almeyda, on Monday at a press conference from Red Bull Arena, as reported by Univision. "Yesterday when we traveled here, I saw all the images and I found it very strange that Jair was suspended only when there are players from the rival who also participate in the same action."
According to reports, Pereira traveled with the team, in case the appeal is successful.
"I think that a push is playing violent and that should also be sanctioned," added the Argentine coach. "[The punishment] just happened to Chivas. We found it strange that it was only us, besides being this phase of the tournament and with a player as important as Jair."
While Almeyda appeared to hint at a conspiracy to take his captain off the field, the manager hedged in calling it as such, but hinted that Chivas' status as a team that only fields players eligible for the Mexican national team might be playing a role.
"I do not know, it's really hard to talk about it because you have to be certain [about a possible conspiracy]. If it is very strange because we are just the team that has only Mexicans, and that makes it uncomfortable for the team with only Mexicans to reach a final," said Almeyda.
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