Rooney cries foul after FA stand firm and uphold two-match ban
MANCHESTER UNITED striker Wayne Rooney will miss the FA Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester City after failing to have his two-match swearing ban reduced.
Football Association chiefs did not accept Rooney’s claim that the punishment, for shouting an obscenity into a TV camera, was excessive.
Rooney said he was “gutted” to miss the City match at Wembley on April 16 and tomorrow’s Premier League visit of Fulham.
“I am not the first player to have sworn on TV and I won’t be the last,” he said. “Unlike others who have been caught swearing on camera, I apologised immediately. And yet I am the only person banned for swearing.”
Former referee Jeff Winter welcomed the decision, telling City PM: “This wasn’t about Rooney, it wasn’t about Man United, it was about things that are just unacceptable in football. He just went far too far.”