Soccer

Rooney to serve two-match ban

Soccer : Wayne Rooney bears a clear sense of injustice after being told he must serve a two-match suspension for his outburst…

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrating his third goal against West Ham. Rooney had his two-match ban upheld Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrating his third goal against West Ham. Rooney had his two-match ban upheld Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Thu Apr 07 2011 - 01:00

Soccer: Wayne Rooney bears a clear sense of injustice after being told he must serve a two-match suspension for his outburst in front of television camera at West Ham on Saturday. He will miss games against Manchester City and Fulham.

The English FA confirmed the news today, which mean Rooney will sit out Saturday's Premier League encounter with Fulham at Old Trafford plus the eagerly-anticipated FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley on April 16th.

The 25-year-old, who scored the only goal in United's Champions League quarter-final triumph over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night, was clearly not happy with the outcome.

In a statement issued through his spokesman Ian Monk, Rooney said: "I am gutted to miss two matches, one of which is an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

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"I am not the first player to have sworn on TV and I won't be the last.

"Unlike others who have been caught swearing on camera, I apologised immediately. And yet I am the only person banned for swearing. That doesn't seem right.

"Whatever, I have to accept that what's happened has happened and move on from here. That is what I intend to do."

Rooney has been joined in his disappointment by United, whose manager Alex Ferguson only needed to look back to the last Manchester derby in February, which the striker settled with a sensational overhead kick, for the impact he will be missing at Wembley.

"Manchester United is clearly very disappointed with the decision," said a statement issued by the Old Trafford outfit. "The club put forward a very strong case to have the punishment reduced, which was unsuccessful.

"Wayne apologised immediately after the match and the club now wishes to move to on to what hopefully will be a very exciting conclusion to the season."

“A Regulatory Commission has suspended Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney for two matches,” read a statement issued by the FA. “Rooney had admitted a charge for the use of offensive, insulting and/or abusive language, but claimed that the automatic penalty of two games was clearly excessive.

“The Commission did not accept the claim and Rooney will begin the standard two-match suspension with immediate effect. The charge relates to an incident during his side’s fixture with West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 2 April 2011.”