Rufer was handed a controversial red card in the second half of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Macarthur FC in Campbelltown, after he allegedly lashed out at opponent Denis Genreau. The referee originally awarded Rufer a yellow card, but that decision was changed to red following a VAR review.

The A-League's Match Review Panel met on Monday to discuss the incident. On Tuesday morning, the MRP announced they were downgrading the incident from "assault on a player" to "serious unsporting conduct", which carries a mandatory one-match suspension.

The Wollongong-based Phoenix have accepted the ban and will not appeal.

"While disappointed that the red card was issued in the first place, I think this result is the best that we could have expected," Phoenix general manager David Dome said.

"The downgrading of the offence by the Match Review Panel is a common-sense approach and the MRP must be congratulated on this action.

"We will now move on and prepare for our home match on January 24 against Newcastle Jets."

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On Monday, Rufer's teammate David Ball said he was disappointed with the red card decision.

"In my opinion, I don't think it was a red card. Rufer's got his eyes closed when he's gone down. If anything, at the time of the game, I felt like it was a foul on 'Rufs'," the striker said.

"We were all obviously disappointed with the sending off, but I think the lads can be proud of the way we dug in for the last 30 minutes and we got a result that we should have come away with three points with.

"As a group, we worked very hard for that point in the end."