Valletta suffered a blow yesterday following the news that striker Denni Rocha dos Santos was handed a three-match ban by the Malta FA Disciplinary Commis-sioner.
The Brazilian striker was shown a straight red card by referee Alan Mario Sant just before half-time of Saturday’s BOV Premier League clash against Birkirkara for retaliation after going down to a challenge by defender Zach Muscat.
Valletta went on to win the match 1-0, the goal coming a couple of minutes after Denni’s dismissal courtesy of an Ian Zammit header.
Denni was handed a two-match ban for his red-card offence and an additional one match as against Birkirkara he had also incurred a fourth booking of the season for simulation.
He will now miss the next three league matches against Sliema (Saturday), Ħamrun (January 26) and Balzan (February 3).
Melita were also hit hard by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner yesterday after coach Patxi Salinas was given a three-match touchline ban while midfielder Luke Sammut was suspended for two matches.
Salinas, the Amateurs’ Spanish coach, was sanctioned for an altercation inside the tunnel with a Balzan official at the end of Friday’s match which Melita lost 4-0.
It is the second time this season that Salinas will have to serve suspension and follow his team from the stands after the one-match ban he got for a sending-off in his debut against Floriana in November.
Sammut was shown a red card after coming on as a second-half substitute against Balzan. He will be unavailable for the matches against Floriana, on Sunday, and Tarxien Rainbows on January 28.
The other players handed one-match bans yesterday were Marcelo Dias (Hibs), Brooke Farrugia (Floriana), Patrick Borg (Rabat), Paltemio Barbetti (Sliema), Luca Martinelli (Sliema) and Justin Grioli (Tarxien).
Meanwhile, two other BOV Premier League players were slapped with one-match sus-pensions over their failure to take the compulsory medical test as stated in MFA regulations.
The players suspended were both goalkeepers – Ini Akpan (Birkirkara) and Noel Attard (Mosta).
Attard’s ban could leave Mosta short in goalkeeping options ahead of Saturday’s league match against Birkirkara.
Mosta are currently involved in a dispute with regular goalkeeper Justin Haber who is seeking a move away from the club.