Brisbane Roar FC confirms it has been notified by Football Australia that defender Marianna Seidl has been suspended for one A-League Women match, effective immediately. The suspension relates to the retrospective correction of a yellow card issued during the Club’s Round 20 match against Newcastle Jets on 20 March 2026.
The Club was informed yesterday evening that a Player Yellow Card recorded on the Referee’s official match card against goalkeeper Tahlia Franco has been rescinded and reattributed to Seidl. As Seidl had already received a yellow card earlier in the match, the reattribution results in a deemed second yellow card and a consequential one-match suspension.
The Club notes the following:
The Referee’s match card — completed at the time of the incident and constituting the official record of the match — recorded the yellow card against Franco. That record stood uncorrected for six days. The correction, and the consequential suspension of Seidl, was communicated to the Club less than 24 hours before kick-off against Perth Glory FC in what is the most significant match of the Club’s A-League Women season.
Brisbane Roar acknowledges Football Australia’s regulatory authority, including the power to correct officiating records in cases of mistaken identity. The Club does not challenge that authority.
However, the Club has raised significant concerns with Football Australia regarding whether the regulation relied upon — which was designed to correct the administrative record of who received a card — authorises Football Australia to go further and retrospectively deem a player to have received an indirect red card that was never issued on the field of play.
The Club also notes the timing of this notification. Clubs are entitled to rely in good faith on the Referee’s official match card for squad planning purposes. A correction that took six days to finalise, communicated less than 24 hours before a finals-defining fixture, has created significant and avoidable disruption.
The suspension compounds an already challenging period for the Club’s squad. Brisbane Roar enters tonight’s match without two players — Daisy Brown and Zara Kruger — who are on international duty with Australia’s U20 Women’s squad at the AFC Championship in Thailand, in addition to a significant existing injury toll. The loss of Seidl, confirmed less than 24 hours before kick-off, adds further difficulty to circumstances already beyond the Club’s control.
Brisbane Roar has formally escalated this matter with Football Australia.
