Dubai: Sanctioning players for things they do in their private life sets a dangerous precedent for sport, according to Al Wasl coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena.

The Argentine was referring to his Brazilian forwards Caio Correa and Fabio Lima who were suspended for two games and fined Dh20,000 by the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) disciplinary committee for appearing in an ‘offensive and provocative’ video that went viral on social media this week.

When asked by a fan what the players were going to do to ‘The Penguin’ in top of the league Al Wasl’s derby with fifth-placed Al Nasr on Thursday, Lima replied with a penguin impression and Caio resorted to a throat-slitting motion.

Some Al Wasl fans mockingly refer to Al Nasr as ‘The Penguin’ because their stadium is next to Al Nasr Leisureland, which has a swimming pool adorned with plastic penguins.

The ban was overturned and a second hearing was scheduled for November 12 after Al Wasl said they didn’t have enough time to adequately defend themselves in the initial hearing.

Lima netted twice on 72 and 79 minutes to send Al Wasl three points clear at the top, extending his league top scorer’s tally to nine, as Al Wasl extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches in the league over two seasons.

“If the association decides to make something out of this, it could make the future complicated for sport,” said Arruabarrena. “Players have to take care, but this is a private thing and if you decide to punish things done in their private life there is no life, and this is dangerous for sport.”

Neither player knew the fan was going to upload the private video onto social media, a source at the club said.

Asked if he was now expecting to lose Caio and Lima for two matches at a later date after the second hearing on November 12, Arruabarrena replied: “I don’t think they can do that, it wouldn’t be justice.

“But in case that happens we have other players with different characteristics to replace them, I always say this is a group and all players have to be prepared to carry on and never give up fighting for the league.”

Lima used his post-match interviews to explain he meant no offence to Al Nasr by the video, which wasn’t shot or uploaded by him, and which he wasn’t aware would be made public. He also thanked the UAE FA for allowing him to play on Thursday and stated his otherwise spotless disciplinary record.

Al Nasr coach Cesare Prandelli, said of the video: “The line of our club was precise and definite. They were disciplined and an appeal brought them back. Anyway, we had prepared for the game with them playing, so we didn’t feel conditioned by this at all.”

In Thursday’s other game, second from bottom Hatta held sixth-placed Dibba to a 2-2 draw. Samuel Rosa opened for Hatta only for Driss Fettouhi and Alassane Diallo to pull two back, before Rosa equalised. On Saturday second-placed Al Ain take on third-placed Al Wahda.