The AFC’s announcement on Monday morning to suspend Al Hilal’s defender Digao has been met with outrage from the Saudi Arabian club’s supporters on social media but coach Giorgos Donis says he was prepared for it.
The timing of the decision is being heavily criticised as Hilal received a letter from the AFC informing them that the Brazilian will be missing their next two games, just 24 hours prior to their Champions League semi-final first leg against Al Ahli on Tuesday.
Digao received the suspension due to a challenge he made on Lekhwiya forward Youssef Msakni in their quarter-final second leg which was played on September 15, two weeks prior to the date of the AFC’s decision. Video footage shows Digao kicking Msakni during injury time but he escaped a red card as the referee did not spot it and the incident led to mayhem after the match.
"We expected this from the AFC because they don’t like us and as you can see they waited until one day before the game to suspend the player but we were prepared and I knew he wasn’t going to play this match," said Hilal manager Donis. "The timing is definitely unprofessional from the AFC but we’ve made contingency plans."
Hilal supporters took to Twitter to express their anger towards the timing of the decision and the hash-tag "Digao’s Asian suspension" (in Arabic) was quickly trending worldwide.
"The decision to suspend Digao was expected but the timing is a catastrophe and is clearly an orchestrated plan from the AFC," said one Hilal fan on the micro-blogging website.
Another supporter said: "What is infuriating is not the decision, it’s the timing of the decision. But we are up for the task and have replacements."
"The AFC always has timings that raise my blood pressure. I’m not a Hilal fan, and Digao deserves suspension but the timing of the AFC’s decision is very provocative," said Twitter user @00xa00.
Ahli boss Cosmin Olaroiu says the suspension of Digao does not concern him.
"Digao’s absence does not affect our game plan and we will stick to our own strategy. His suspension is something for his team to worry about, and does not concern us," said the Romanian.
