Hamburg have objected to an eight-game suspension imposed on their striker Paolo Guerrero for his red card in Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Stuttgart.

The German Football Association (DFB) have recommended the lengthy ban, which is not yet confirmed since the northern club are to appeal the decision, for serious violent conduct after Guerrero scythed down Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich from behind.

Although they accepted Guerrero had been in the wrong, his club were not willing to accept that he will be unavailable until the last two games of the season.

"Of course we had expected it would come to a significant ban since it was a fully deserved sending off for Guerrero, but we feel that these games are a bit disproportionate, having read the justification," said Hamburg's president Carl-Edgar Jarchow on NDR radio.

"We are therefore appealing the decision."

The DFB will now assess Hamburg's appeal before making a final decision before the next round of Bundesliga matches at the weekend.

Guerrero has already been punished by his club after meeting with coach Thorsten Fink and director of sport Frank Arnesen on Sunday.

However, Arnesen feels Guerrero is being made an example of.

"I am very disappointed about this judgement," he is quoted by sport1.de as saying. "I am not condoning the foul, but when I compare it to other fouls, then I would never have expected such a harsh punishment."

Guerrero himself is puzzled by all the furore over his sending off.

"Their goalkeeper was able to carry on - it is not like he got injured," he is quoted as saying by the dpa agency.

"I cannot claim that I intended to play the ball, no. At that moment, I was not really considering it - I was frustrated. But such things don't just happen to me and to be quite honest, I cannot understand all the fuss."

It is not the first time that Guerrero has made headlines for the wrong reasons.

Last season he was banned for five matches for throwing a plastic beer mug at a spectator, while he has on several occasions upset the Hamburg hierarchy by returning late after trips home to Peru.

Sunday's incident has drawn widespread contempt, with the DFB's technical director Matthias Sammer telling Sky television: "He has made an inexcusable mistake."

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann said he "should be taken out of service", adding that it "would be right if we don't see him again this season".

aford92 wrote:8 games!? Lol. The keeper wasn't even hurt that much, just a few stud marks. I'm not saying it's not a red but an 8 game ban is ridiculous. The game is going soft.

aford92 wrote:8 games!? Lol. The keeper wasn't even hurt that much, just a few stud marks. I'm not saying it's not a red but an 8 game ban is ridiculous. The game is going soft.

rwo power wrote:

aford92 wrote:8 games!? Lol. The keeper wasn't even hurt that much, just a few stud marks. I'm not saying it's not a red but an 8 game ban is ridiculous. The game is going soft.

In Germany it is currently considered to give a straight red for intentional elbow checks to the head/face, too, as there were a lot of very bad face injuries (broken jaws and other facial bones) recently. As the game gets faster, it is imo important to punish those that are only out to injure other players, and Guerrero never went for the ball, only for the player.