Doha March 28: Al Gharafa will appeal the decision of the QSL Disciplinary Committee which decided to ban Brazilian striker Nene for nine matches, it emerged on Wednesday. Nene was also fined QR350,000, it was announced on Tuesday.Al Gharafa officials said it will appeal the decision which was deemed ‘harsh’.Club Secretary General Saeed Jassim Al Mansouri said: “We are surprised by the decision of the Disciplinary Committee. Suspending a player for nine matches is a little too harsh. Similar incidents have occurred and we didn’t see the guilty players then punished in the same way.” He added: “Of course we are going to appeal the decision.”The incident occurred in the Qatar Stars Cup semi-final between Al Arabi and Al Gharafa last week. Goals by Djordje Rakic (36) and Wanderley (85) helped Al Arabi stun Al Gharafa in the tense clash at Qatar Sports Club.For the losers, Nene drilled a shot home from an acute angle in the 83rd minute. Minutes later, Nene took a wild swing with his left hand and hit Abdullah Marafee following a stoppage in play caused by red card to AlGharafa’s Fahad Al Shammari for a rough foul on an Al Arabi player. Nene and Marafee had been each other throughout the clash but in injury time tempers frayed once again as both players fell in a heap following a rough tackle seconds before the end of the match. Just as referee showed the red card to Al Shammari, Marafee deliberately came in Nene’s walk towards the match official.Marafee’s unwarranted soft shoulder charge at Nene ticked off the Brazilian who took a swing at the Al Arabi midfielder. One swing from Nene created a commotion as players from both sides threw punches and kicks. Seconds later, Marafee went for a kung-fu strike at Nene, a scene that was similar to Eric Cantona’s infamous kick at a Crystal Palace fan in 1995.Both players were red carded by the referee as was Husseine Kharja of Al Arabi. Al Arabi’s Kharja was penalized even more severely; as the Morrocan international was handed a 10-match ban in addition to a QR350, 000 fine. Nene joined Al Gharafa on a two-and-a-half-year deal in January.

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