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There seems to be some confusion surrounding Patrick Vieira. Paddy is currently on nine yellow cards. A tenth yellow carries an automatic two game ban under FA rules, so Paddy will miss a couple of important games if he gets booked – but only if that booking comes during either of our next two games against Spurs or Middlesbrough.
That’s because on April 15th (the day after our semi-final with Boro) the FA declares an “amnesty”. Basically everyone starts with a clean slate after that date. If Paddy avoids a caution in either of Arsenal’s next two games he’ll be available for all our remaining fixtures.
So what games will he miss if he is booked? That depends on when he’s booked. Any suspension would start 14 days after Paddy received his 10th yellow card. So if he’s booked against Spurs he’ll have to sit out the Premiership games against Ipswich on April 21 and West Ham on April 24.
The situation looks even worse should he avoid a booking against Spurs but pick a card up against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. A booking in that game would see Paddy miss the Premiership game with Bolton on April 29 and either the FA Cup Final or (if we don’t get to Cardiff) the Premiership game against Manchester United.
Rupe adds...
Thanks to Rob White for pointing out that although both
Freddie and Thierry are both on 4 yellow cards, the deadline
for 5-bookings bans passed back in February. So they're
not in danger of suspension (unless they get sent off of course,
but Arsenal seem to gotten out of that habit, touch wood)
He also points out that a booking for Vieira against Spurs,
and Tim Sherwood is, shall we say, not beyond the bounds of probability.
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