Charlton see red over appeals process

Charlton Athletic's chief executive Peter Varney has called for an overhaul of the appeals system to Premiership red cards.

He is aggrieved that manager Alan Curbishley and Paul Konchesky, who was dismissed on the opening day of the season, will have to meet referee Graham Barber at a hearing in Coventry today.

The Addicks contested Barber's decision to send off Konchesky for an alleged elbow on Chelsea's Spanish midfielder Enrique de Lucas.

A day later Birmingham's Aliou Cissé was ordered off at Highbury in a televised clash with Arsenal's Ashley Cole after a second yellow card. But his potential ban was rescinded within hours of Birmingham's defeat.

"I believe it is time to look at the way in which appeals against dismissals are handled," said Varney. "Some decisions are overturned on the Monday after the match and more often than not it appears to be those that have been most heavily criticised on the television.

"In other cases, as with Paul, you have to wait nearly two weeks."

Now Curbishley, who has a mini-injury crisis at The Valley with new captain Graham Stuart (knee) out and Gary Rowett (hamstring) and Scott Parker (ankle) far from certain to return against West Ham this Saturday, is facing an anxious wait in planning his side.

"I believe the system should be changed so that Philip Don and his team, who manage the élite group of referees, consider all appeals within 72 hours of the match and their decision is final.

"If a club has a better video of an incident the referee should be asked to review that and not rely exclusively on the match video," added Varney.

"Surely natural justice should drive the process? The technology is there and decisions should not drag on over nearly two weeks."

Charlton's frustration increased further yesterday when they were refused a work permit for the Brazilian-born Japanese international Alex, who had agreed a £2.3m move.

However, having only gained Japanese citizenship last November, the midfielder has not played sufficient internationals, according to the Home Office.

Curbishley said: "I think Alex would have been a fantastic addition to the Premier League but unfortunately they felt he didn't meet the criteria.

"I'm very disappointed because everyone at the club has worked extremely hard over the past week to make the proposed transfer happen."

Meanwhile, fresh from their victory over Charlton on Tuesday night, Tottenham are just as far from completing their summer shopping ahead of Saturday's transfer window.

Glenn Hoddle has targeted a top-quality striker to keep his side in contention at the top of the Premiership. Spurs have been linked with Real Madrid's Fernando Morientes, Leeds' Robbie Keane and Argentina's Hernan Crespo, of Lazio, in the past few weeks.

Hoddle admitted: "It still goes on, we could make a TV programme out of it. Things are going on behind the scenes, we are working extremely hard and it's getting closer.

"Time is running out and whereas years ago transfers used to take place in 48 hours, in modern football they take a long time and we can't do any more work than we are doing."