Jamie Vardy will miss Leicester City's trip to Manchester United on Sunday after an independent regulatory commission imposed an additional one-match suspension following the Football Association's decision to charge the England forward with improper conduct in relation to his dismissal against West Ham United.
Vardy accepted the charge but requested a personal hearing in the hope that he may have been able to persuade the panel to take a more lenient view of his conduct after he was sent off in the 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium eight days ago, yet an extended ban always seemed the most likely scenario from the moment the FA signalled its intention to take action.
The Leicester striker, who has also been fined £10,000, will now be forced to watch from the stands for the second game in succession. He served his mandatory one-match ban on Sunday, when Leicester hammered Swansea City 4-0, and that result and performance has given Claudio Ranieri and his players the belief that they can cope without their leading goalscorer.
Vardy will be available for the last two fixtures of the season, at home to Everton on Saturday week and away at Chelsea on the final day, when he will hope to add to his tally of 22 Premier League goals and steer Leicester towards the title.
The red card that Vardy received against West Ham was highly controversial and his first as a professional footballer. Jon Moss, the referee, was at the centre of several contentious decisions that day and his handling of the game has been widely criticised. Vardy picked up two yellow cards, the second for allegedly diving, and he was unable to conceal his anger as he left the pitch, leading to Moss mentioning the 29-year-old's behaviour in his match report.
Roy Hodgson, the England manager, took it upon himself to speak out in defence of Vardy three days later, insisting that the player was the victim of an injustice. Vardy's reaction to his sending off was "human", according to Hodgson, who also claimed that the forward was not guilty of an act of simulation.
While it was seen as a blow to Leicester at the time, in particular that idea that their most prolific player could potentially miss two games at such a critical stage, Leonardo Ulloa proved to be a capable deputy for Vardy with two goals against Swansea City. Leicester will now hope for more of the same. from the Argentinian at Old Trafford.
(Guardian service)
