A couple of weeks ago, Rio Ferdinand appeared to hit Chris Fagan of Hull on the back of the head. It wasn’t seen by the referee at the time but was picked up on video after the game.

This resulted in a three match ban.

United appealed the ban and Rio was subsequently hit by a further one game ban for the “frivolous” nature of the appeal.

United are now apparently about to appeal this further one game ban… a decision which, should it backfire, could see Rio banned for yet another game.

I must admit, I do not follow every incident concerning every team in all the divisions of the football league and as far as I am aware, the first and only time this sort of situation has occured was in 2008 when Jeremie Aliadiere of Middlesbrough appealed a red card only to see his ban increased for a “frivolous” appeal.

At the time, this caused shockwaves amongst the footballing world because no one had ever been subject to this treatment before (there was even some talk that it had only happened to Boro because they weren’t one of the ‘big’ teams and were being hit so hard because they were less likely to fight back).

What it suggested to me at the time though was that the FA were perhaps being a little too big for their boots. There’s an arrogance to it all. It is like they were saying, “Our time is very important. We have FAR more pressing matters to attend to than listen to your appeals.”

The fact is, listening to appeals is one of their main roles. They are the governing body. If a club has an issue with a decision made by one of THEIR appointed officials then the proper course of action (as laid down by the FA themselves) is for the club to go to the FA and ask them to have another look at the situation. The FA should only be too happy to do this and ensure that the rules of the game are being implemented correctly and that should a mistake be made, they will rectify it without question or hesitation.

If it is found that the original decision was correct… fine. The Club concerned must accept this and we all get on with it.

To start imposing extra punishment on top of the original punishment simply for making an appeal seems to go against not only the rules of the game but against the whole point of having an appeals process in situ in the first place.

A sending off offence is a three game ban, no more, no less and even if an appeal is deemed “frivolous” in private, such words should never be used by the Governing Body in public.

A three game ban for a player is never a small issue in the eyes of the club or the player and if the club considers the ban worthy of appeal then the FA should treat it with the utmost respect and seriousness.

In what other area of “law” does a person find their punishment increased for appealing the original penalty?

Clubs need to know that they can appeal without fear of further punishment. To frighten people into NOT appealing by using the prospect of further, enhanced punishment is a perversion of all known justice and a blatant abuse of power.

To change the rules of the game on a whim as they did when Boro were first subject to this was also a blatant abuse of power. It was also arrogant, slightly despotic, in fact.

If Manchester United are successful in appealing this extra game ban then it could mean the end of it which would be a great thing for ALL clubs at all levels.

Whoever decided to start this “frivolous” thing two years ago should hang their heads in shame. By going away, having a word with themselves and admitting that it is wrong would go a long way towards their redemption.

You might say that I am only writing this because it concerns Manchester United but, in my defence, I was not writing this blog two years ago but I doubt very much that I would have written anything different. I remember my feelings at the time. I was pretty outraged at the arrogance then. The intervening couple of years have done nothing to quell my feelings of injustice on the issue.