TORONTO — Forge FC star Tristan Borges has won a reprieve from the red card issued in the first leg of the Canadian Premier League final and will be able to play in Saturday’s rematch in Calgary.
But Cavalry FC’s Joel Waterman’s red card will stand, says Canada Soccer’s disciplinary Committee. He will miss the second leg.
Both teams had appealed the red cards.
Waterman was ejected late in the first half last Saturday at Tim Hortons Field for handling the ball as he tried a sliding tackle in Cavalry FC’s penalty box. The disciplinary committee found that Waterman was guilty of a handball offence "and in doing so denied a goal or obvious goal scoring opportunity."
Borges, the CPL’s leading scorer, missed the ensuing penalty but scored the lone goal of the game when he curled in a left-footed shot from just inside the penalty box in first-half stoppage time.
The Forge FC attacker was sent off in the 69th minute after kicking out at Jay Wheeldon as the two tangled after a hard tackle. Wheeldon was yellow-carded on the play.
The disciplinary committee ruled Borges "did not use excessive force or brutality against his opponent and therefore did not meet the threshold of a violent conduct offence."
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