FA hopeful over Rooney decision

FA chief Adrian Bevington has stated that the governing body are confident that their appeal to reduce Wayne Rooney’s three-match ban will be successful, as the striker will learn his Euro 2012 fate on Thursday.

The Manchester United striker was handed a three game suspension after being sent off in England’s final Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro, and is line to miss the entire group stage of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

As the FA prepare their appeal, Rooney’s hopes of added participation next year hang in the balance.

“We are going out to Switzerland with Fabio Capello; Wayne will also join us following his game with Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night,” Bevington told Sky Sports News.

“We will be in Nyon with our own legal support team on Thursday and we will present our case and see how we take it from there.

“It would be wrong of me to try and second guess where the case goes and also to go into any real detail what our case actually includes at this stage.

“The important element is to present it to UEFA and let them make their judgement from there.

“We feel we have put a very robust case together with some evidence from Wayne, Fabio Capello, from the Montenegrin player [Miodrag Dzudovic] and also from the specialist external legal advice and our own internal in-house lawyers that we work with as well,” he concluded.

The outcome of the appeal may have a significant bearing on Capello’s decision whether or not to bring Rooney as part of his squad for the tournament.

By Gareth McKnight

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