Post by Scott on Jul 4, 2006 16:42:10 GMT
From The Times:
Wayne Rooney's plea of innocence over his red card will be backed by the Football Association.
The FA will write to FIFA to stress that the England forward did not mean to stamp on Ricardo Carvalho, the Portugal defender, during Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Portugal. There will not, however, be any written apology from the player or the FA.
FIFA's disciplinary chiefs will consider England's version of events before imposing Rooney's punishment, but he can expect a fine and a suspension which will force him to miss the start of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Adrian Bevington, the FA's director of communications, said: "I can confirm the FA will be submitting a response to FIFA within the next 36 hours with regard to Wayne Rooney's sending off. Wayne has already made clear publicly he did not have any intention of making contact with Ricardo Carvalho. It is also worth noting that we believe there were one or two potential fouls against Wayne during the same move."
Rooney, 20, broke his silence to insist he has no intention of kicking Carvalho. He said he was "gobsmacked" to be sent off by Horacio Elizondo, the Argentinian referee, and the FA will support his argument.
The FA also want FIFA to take into account the rough treatment Rooney was getting from several Portugal players in the seconds before the flashpoint.
Whether these mitigating circumstances are enough for Rooney to escape with a relatively light ban remain to be seen. England would settle for a two-match ban, but anything more than three would seem excessive.
FIFA would have preferred a show of contrition from England similar to the way Italy dealt with Daniele de Rossi's elbow on Brian McBride, earlier in the World Cup. It was a much more clear-cut offence than the Rooney dismissal but De Rossi wrote an apology and was rewarded with a four-match ban rather than five games.
Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, backed Elizondo and cleared Ronaldo: "The referee was touching distance from the players and he took the decision according to what he witnessed. I can only say that the referee's decision is final and I have not seen any protest from fans or even team-mates on the field of play."
Great news. I'm so pleased the FA are getting behind him, rather than getting on their high horse and condemning him. Of course it works for their advantage, but it's not as if the FA dont cut off their nose to spite their face when it comes to United players. They banned Rio for 9 months (which was ridiculous enough in itself, but lets not go down that road again lol) even though it meant he would miss out on Euro 04. To back Rooney, even though he would only miss some friendlies probably, is great news. Ave it!
Wayne Rooney's plea of innocence over his red card will be backed by the Football Association.
The FA will write to FIFA to stress that the England forward did not mean to stamp on Ricardo Carvalho, the Portugal defender, during Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Portugal. There will not, however, be any written apology from the player or the FA.
FIFA's disciplinary chiefs will consider England's version of events before imposing Rooney's punishment, but he can expect a fine and a suspension which will force him to miss the start of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Adrian Bevington, the FA's director of communications, said: "I can confirm the FA will be submitting a response to FIFA within the next 36 hours with regard to Wayne Rooney's sending off. Wayne has already made clear publicly he did not have any intention of making contact with Ricardo Carvalho. It is also worth noting that we believe there were one or two potential fouls against Wayne during the same move."
Rooney, 20, broke his silence to insist he has no intention of kicking Carvalho. He said he was "gobsmacked" to be sent off by Horacio Elizondo, the Argentinian referee, and the FA will support his argument.
The FA also want FIFA to take into account the rough treatment Rooney was getting from several Portugal players in the seconds before the flashpoint.
Whether these mitigating circumstances are enough for Rooney to escape with a relatively light ban remain to be seen. England would settle for a two-match ban, but anything more than three would seem excessive.
FIFA would have preferred a show of contrition from England similar to the way Italy dealt with Daniele de Rossi's elbow on Brian McBride, earlier in the World Cup. It was a much more clear-cut offence than the Rooney dismissal but De Rossi wrote an apology and was rewarded with a four-match ban rather than five games.
Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, backed Elizondo and cleared Ronaldo: "The referee was touching distance from the players and he took the decision according to what he witnessed. I can only say that the referee's decision is final and I have not seen any protest from fans or even team-mates on the field of play."
Great news. I'm so pleased the FA are getting behind him, rather than getting on their high horse and condemning him. Of course it works for their advantage, but it's not as if the FA dont cut off their nose to spite their face when it comes to United players. They banned Rio for 9 months (which was ridiculous enough in itself, but lets not go down that road again lol) even though it meant he would miss out on Euro 04. To back Rooney, even though he would only miss some friendlies probably, is great news. Ave it!
