/world sport
(CNN) -- Chelsea have decided to appeal against the sending-off of captain John Terry in Saturday's Premier League win at Manchester City.
Terry (left) joins in the debate with referee Halsey after his dismissal.
The Football Association have confirmed that referee Mark Halsey issued the red card for serious foul play and not for a professional foul as many onlookers thought.
Terry was sent off 13 minutes from time after bringing down City striker Jo near the halfway line.
An FA regulatory commission will consider the appeal on Tuesday.
If Terry's appeal fails he will be ruled out of the big Premier League clash against Manchester United on Sunday and then miss the Carling Cup tie against Portsmouth on September 24 and the Premier League encounter with Stoke three days later.
The foul on Jo occurred inside the center circle, and most pundits felt that Terry was not the last defender, because Ricardo Carvalho was behind him, although a little to one side.
That debate becomes irrelevant if referee Halsey produced the red card because he considered the challenge to be a case of serious foul play, which is when a player "uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is play".
FIFA rules state: "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."
The problem for Chelsea is that straight red cards cannot be downgraded to yellow, so they will have to convince the FA that Terry did not even deserve a caution.
West Ham have appointed Steve Clarke as first-team coach after a compensation package was agreed with Chelsea on Monday.
Clarke handed in his resignation at Stamford Bridge last Friday, and although Chelsea initially refused to accept it they thrashed out a compensation deal with the Hammers.
Clarke will be linking up with former Chelsea colleague Gianfranco Zola who has just been appointed manager at Upton Park in succession to Alan Curbishley.
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