The 24-year-old will not play again until New Year’s Day in Southampton.
Femi Azeez will miss much of Millwall’s festive fixtures after the FA maintained his straight red card against Hull City, despite the Lions’ efforts to get it reversed.
Azeez was sent out by referee Gavin Ward with City leading 2-0 at The Den on Saturday for seeming to kick out at two-goal hero Kyle Joseph.
Ward did not witness the event and initially permitted play to continue before the incident was reported by the assistant, who was yards away.
The in-form attacker was sent off, resulting in an immediate three-game suspension, but Millwall disputed the duration of the sentence. The FA has rejected their plea, and Azeez will miss games against Blackburn Rovers, Ipswich Town on Boxing Day, and Bristol City on Monday week.
When asked if the team had been informed of the outcome of their appeal, manager Alex Neil responded, “The three-game ban will remain in place.”
Prior to the appeal being denied, Neil confessed that the angles he saw on the replay were not in Azeez’s favour. Joseph told how he had been stamped on in a particularly painful spot.
“This is a challenging one. “I don’t think it looks good from the angles I’ve seen,” the Scotsman stated. “However, I believe you can see the lad holding on to his leg.” But then it appears like he is attempting to push off, and as he does so, he stamps on the lad, trods on him, or pushes off him, depending on how you choose to interpret this.
“At the moment, I believe that is where we stand [with the three-game penalty]. But I understand the club has filed an appeal questioning the severity of Femi’s red card. So I expect to learn more about it today.”
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