The FA have confirmed that Wayne Rooney will serve a two-match ban.
Rooney had previously admitted the charge for the use of offensive, insulting and / or abusive language at Upton Park last weekend, but the striker argued that the two game penalty was unfair.
The charge has immediate effect and Rooney will now miss Manchester United’s next two matches: Saturday’s Premier League clash against Fulham and their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. The forward is hot property at the moment in the Fantasy Premier League which he demonstrated by scoring a hat-trick in the aforementioned game with West Ham. He continued his sublime form last night by netting the only goal during the 1-0 Champions League victory over Chelsea.
United have released this statement:
“Manchester United is clearly very disappointed with the Regulatory Commission’s decision. The Club put forward a very strong case to have the punishment reduced, which was unsuccessful. Wayne Rooney 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.”
Fantasy Managers will now have to consider the impact on United’s lineup against Fulham – presumably this will see a start for Dimitar Berbatov who was benched for last night’s Champions League victory, while Javier Hernandez would also seem set to retain his starting role if Alex Ferguson goes with a 4-4-2. Short-term interest in both could therefore increase as a result.
