Eden Hazard ban will remain at three games

Eden hazard was automatically suspended for three games after being shown a straight red card for the incident with the Swansea ballboy that was lying atop crucial equipment necessary to the continuance of a football match, covering the last two games as well as the upcoming contest with Newcastle over the weekend. There was talk that the FA would look to extend that ban beyond three games, a move that Chelsea stated they would immediately appeal. After looking at the situation carefully, the FA have let common sense prevail and left the suspension at the three games mandated by the card.

This certainly shouldn't be looked at as any sort of concession that Hazard's actions were justified, as despite the ridiculous behavior of the ballboy in question, taking matters into his own hands and kicking at the ball was never the way for the player to deal with things. With that said, extending his punishment to anything beyond the three games he was initially given would have been absolutely ludicrous.

Hazard will now be available for the Wigan tie following the Newcastle game, and there is every chance that we'll have Victor Moses available again for that game as well. All of a sudden, Chelsea depth issues aren't looking quite as dire as they did yesterday.