England Women attacker Lauren James has been handed a two-game ban for her stamp on Nigeria Women's Michelle Alozie during their World Cup last-16 clash last Friday.
The Chelsea forward was given her marching orders for treading her foot on Alozie's back after the pair had gone to ground last week, initially being given a yellow card before her punishment was upgraded.
Despite seeing out the rest of normal time and extra time with 10 players, England still progressed to the quarter-finals on penalties, setting up a showdown with Colombia in the process.
While James would have been guaranteed to sit out the quarter-final through suspension, there were fears that an extended ban could have ruled her out for the remainder of the tournament.
However, the 21-year-old will be able to play in the World Cup final should the Lionesses progress that far, having been slapped with a two-game suspension for her misdemeanour.
As a result, James will play no part in Saturday's quarter-final with Colombia, while she will also miss any possible semi-final with France or co-hosts Australia.
Following James's sending-off and subsequent reaction, Alozie took to social media to call for calm and insisted that she had nothing but "respect" for her counterpart.
© Reuters
"abeg, rest. we are playing on the world's stage. this game is one of passion, insurmountable emotions, and moments. all respect for Lauren James," Alozie said in a tweet.
James responded with an apology to her teammates and fans and promised to learn from her infraction, saying: "All my love and respect to you. I am sorry for what happened.
"Also, for our England fans and my team-mates, playing with and for you is my greatest honour and I promise to learn from my experience."
England boss Sarina Wiegman also defended James, labelling the Chelsea attacker the "sweetest" person she knows and insisting that the 21-year-old did not go out to intentionally hurt Alozie.
"She is inexperienced on this stage and in a split-second lost her emotions. It isn't something she did on purpose. She apologised and felt really bad," Wiegman told the press. "She would never want to hurt someone. She is the sweetest person I know."
James had starred for England in the group stage with three goals and three assists, but the 21-year-old struggled to make her mark against Nigeria before seeing red.
Should the European champions lose to Colombia in Sydney, James will serve the second of her two-game ban in England's first international match following the World Cup.
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