CHENNAI: Chennai City FC 's Edwin Vanspaul , who received a red card in the match against Mohun Bagan when the referee gave him marching orders by mistake, will be available for selection when the hosts square up against Shillong Lajong at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Sunday after the AIFF revoked the ban.

In the 82nd minute of the match, Chennai City's Tarif Akhand wearing jersey No. 3 brought down Bagan's Dipanda Dicka inside the box, but referee Akash Jackson Routh showed the yellow card to Edwin Vanspaul mistaking him for Akhand. Edwin saw another yellow in the next minute and the referee sent him off thinking it was his second yellow. AIFF's disciplinary committee acted on the complaint filed by Chennai City and on Saturday revoked the card making Vanspaul available for the hosts' do-or-die tie.

"AIFF is a just body and we have zero-tolerance for errors. We are harsh if the players make any mistake and our attitude towards referees are no different. We have decided to revoke the red card because it was entirely the referee's fault," a member of the AIFF disciplinary committee told TOI on Saturday.

According to sources in the AIFF, Routh has been reprimanded by the referee committee and will not be officiating any more matches in the ongoing tournament.

Even though having Vanspaul's experience will boost the team on Sunday CCFC need to start winning in order to avoid relegation. The V Soundararajan-coached side, which is on a seven-game winless run, is eighth on the table with 12 points from 14 matches. With four matches remaining, including two games at home time is running out for them.

