Manchester United are set to discover on Friday what punishment Nemanja Vidic must face for his red card at the Club World Cup. Vidic was sent off in the final victory over LDU Quito when he elbowed Claudio Bieler.
At the time, the issue of disciplinary sanctions was clouded in uncertainty, although it subsequently transpired Fifa would hand the matter to Uefa to deal with as United were competing in Japan on their behalf.
Uefa will now hear the case before delivering their judgement.
If Vidic receives a one-match suspension he will miss the first leg of United’s Champions League encounter with Inter Milan at the San Siro on February 20th.
Should the punishment be three games, the Serbian would be ruled out of both legs of the Inter tussle, plus the first match of the quarter-finals should United get past Jose Mourinho’s men.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson will no doubt be looking for similar leniency as Kakha Kaladze received, when he was dismissed for AC Milan in the same competition two years ago.
On that occasion Kaladze escaped a suspension, a fact United will bring up in their defence of Vidic, who has been a key figure in the Red Devils’ run of 10 successive Premier League clean sheets.
