DISGUSTED Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson last night launched an astonishing attack on the Football Association after Soho Square chiefs described an appeal over Jeremie Aliadiere's sending off as 'frivolous'.

And he was joined in his condemnation of the decision by the club's chief executive, Keith Lamb, who labelled the outcome as 'grossly unfair'.

Aliadiere was shown the red card by referee Lee Mason during the 3-2 defeat at Liverpool last Saturday for aiming a slap at Javier Mascherano, who appeared to make off-the-ball contact with his face seconds earlier.

Boro lodged an appeal over the mandatory three-match ban handed out to Aliadiere on Monday, only for the FA to increase the suspension to four games after rejecting the claim.

And it is a decision which has sparked an angry response from Gibson, with manager Gareth Southgate now without one of this season's best performers for the next two and a half weeks.

"It's a ridiculous decision to call it frivolous and I'm absolutely furious," said Gibson. "Most observers of our game thought it was very harsh when Jeremie was sent off and I certainly can't see how one player was more guilty than the other.

"To be sent off for violent conduct suggests the prospect of someone being seriously hurt and that clearly wasn't the case. On that basis we appealed.

"We thought a more experienced referee would have only given both players a talking to.

"To punish the club further simply because the disciplinary panel says our appeal was frivolous is absolutely subjective."

After the disciplinary committee met yesterday and delivered their verdict, Gibson was infuriated. "We have amateurs in charge of the professional game," he added.

"When you look at some of the bad tackles that have been punished far less it's completely ludicrous. This is a professional game and we need professional people making professional decisions not these silly little men'."

Gibson acted in response to the FA's confirmation that Aliadiere's suspension had been increased - the same fate suffered by Hartlepool United earlier this month when they appealed against the dismissal of defender Sam Collins.

A FA statement said: "The commission decided the claim was frivolous and increased Aliadiere's suspension from three matches to four matches as a result with immediate effect."

And Boro chief executive Lamb was equally quick to air his grievances against the imposed suspension.

He said: "Who are they (the commission) to know our minds when we made this appeal? We are appalled at the decision and the entire process. How can nameless, faceless people on a commission decide that our genuine claim for equality and justice be dealt with in such a flippant manner?

"It is a disgraceful comment to suggest our claim was frivolous. We agonized over it before deciding to submit a claim for 'wrongful dismissal'.

"It seems strange that only recently Chelsea's appeal against Michael Essien's three-match ban was rejected but not considered 'frivolous'. It appears that there is one rule for the big boys and another for the rest of us."

Lamb also suggested that Aliadiere's actions were by no means violent, before adding: "The whole thing is grossly unfair. If anything in this whole farcical affair was frivolous it was the original incident.

"Finally, the sporting ethos is that everything should be fair and equitable. How on earth can Jeremie Aliadiere think he has been treated fairly in this whole charade when the outcome is clearly a travesty of justice?"