ENGLAND forward Lauren James has been suspended for two matches following the red card she received in their FIFA Women’s World Cup round of 16 clash against Nigeria’s Super Falcons on Monday.
The Chelsea star was sent off after a video assistant referee (VAR) review showed she stamped on the back of Michelle Alozie, who was lying face down, in the 85th minute of the encounter in Brisbane, Australia.
England held on with 10 women and took the game to penalties as full-time and extra-time ended 0-0, and they won the shootout 4-2 to advance to the quarter-finals.
The red card comes with an automatic one-match suspension, but it has now been extended to two matches by FIFA today, despite James’ apology to Alozie on social media after the incident and her promise to learn from the mistake.
James will therefore not only miss the quarter-final tie against Colombia in Sydney on Saturday, she will also not be available for the semi-finals if the Lionesses advance to that stage.
If England are knocked out of the World Cup on Saturday, James’ ban will carry over to the team’s next international fixture.
The England forward, who is her side’s top scorer in this year’s tournament with three goals and three assists at her first World Cup, is not the only player to have her suspension extended in the tournament.
Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun was banned for two additional matches after her red card for dangerous play in the Super Falcons’ opening clash against Canada.
That 0-0 draw with Canada was the young midfielder’s only game in the tournament. She missed the stunning 3-2 win over co-hosts Australia, the 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland and the painful penalty shootout defeat to England.
Comments are closed.