Carlton midfielder Ed Curnow has been suspended for one-match for making intentional contact with an umpire after the AFL's appeal into the tribunal's penalty was upheld.
The 28-year-old will now miss Sunday's clash with Melbourne, while his brother Charlie is free to play after having the appeal against his sanction dismissed.
The AFL made the rare decision to appeal the $1000 fines handed down to the Curnows on Tuesday evening.
Football operations boss Steve Hocking appealed the decisions on the grounds the fines were "manifestly inadequate".
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In light of Geelong forward Tom Hawkins' one-match ban for intentional contact with an umpire last week, Hocking said of the Curnow penalties: "No Tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it."
AFLPA president and Cats star Patrick Dangerfield called the penalties "farcical" and "ridiculous".
Will Ed Curnow come under scrutiny for this? #AFLBluesDons pic.twitter.com/DF29IE3BKx
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) May 12, 2018
At Thursday afternoon's hearings, the cases were heard separately, with AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson QC arguing that both Ed and Charlie intended to make contact with the umpires.
After Charlie's appeal was dismissed, the AFL pushed for a one-week suspension for Ed, conceding the act was of a less serious nature than Hawkins', but the lack of an early guilty plea removed the possibility of a reduced penalty.
Carlton footy manager said Thursday's ruling was confusing.
"We had a very reasonable jury on Tuesday that found (Charlie) guilty of careless contact with the umpire and yet (it's) pretty frustrating that same jury has been found to be unreasonable when they found Ed guilty of that same charge," McKay said.
"So to come here is a little bit confusing. We'll cop it on the chin and move on."
