Ghana Black Stars' star midfielder Michael Essien Could face disciplinary action from UEFA after a dangerous tackle against Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann.

FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter has given UEFA the green light to take disciplinary action against Chelsea FC’s Michael Essien for the midfielder's atrocious foul on Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann in their Champions League encounter at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Essien's knee-high challenge was missed by the German referee Herbert Fandel, but FIFA have confirmed that under the current rules of the game UEFA could use video evidence to bring charges against the Chelsea player.

Blatter told a news conference in Leipzig prior to the World Cup draw on Friday, “In 1994 the FIFA executive committee took a decision that the disciplinary committee can use television evidence in the case of infractions against the laws of the game that have not been identified by the referee.”

"As this happened in a Champions League game it is up to UEFA to decide whether to review video evidence."

This is not the first time Essien has been involved in controversy over tackles. In Chelsea’s Premiership match against Bolton in October, Essien escaped any further disciplinary action following another dangerous tackle on Bolton’s Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim despite referee Rob Styles, after reviewing the video footage, wanting to upgrade the yellow card he awarded to a red card.

The English Football Association consulted FIFA on the possibilities of further action, and were told that the decision could not be changed.

Sepp Blatter was initially mistaken by saying after the match on Wednesday, “If it was a blatant red card, and only a yellow card was given, the disciplinary body can transfer it”, but FIFA’s communications director Markus Siegler later verified the FIFA regulations.

“You cannot upgrade or downgrade one card to another, but you can take action if the referee has NOT seen an incident.” As Essien was unpunished for the incident, this now leaves the door open for UEFA to take disciplinary action.

UEFA are now waiting for the match reports from the referee Herbert Frandel, and the Spanish UEFA match delegate Indrek Kannik, before deciding whether or not disciplinary action will be taken.

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