SFA to query Uefa rules after Fletcher ban is upheld

Published on Tuesday 12 May 2009 11:42

THE Scottish Football Association will lobby for UEFA to allow appeals against the kind of decision which cost Darren Fletcher a place in the Champions League final.

Manchester United midfielder Fletcher will miss the Rome showpiece after his club's plea to overturn his sending off in the semi-final second leg at Arsenal was rejected.

UEFA rules meant United's protest was always doomed to fail and SFA chief executive Gordon Smith wants to ensure no-one else suffers the same fate in future.

He said: "I do think there should be some sort of appeal process for a red card.

"I'm not in favour of the fact that at that level you can't do it.

"I'm on a European football committee and it's certainly an issue I will raise."

UEFA have maintained their steadfast refusal to overturn refereeing decisions by rejecting protests from Manchester United and Barcelona against red cards incurred in the Champions League semi-finals.

The rejection means Fletcher's hopes of playing in the final have been dashed, and Barcelona's defenders Eric Abidal and Daniel Alves will also miss the season's climax in Rome on May 27.

UEFA's rules state only a case of mistaken identity can lead to a referee's decision being changed and United have ruled out any further attempt to overturn Fletcher's suspension.

A club spokesman said: "Darren is an honest player and we felt we should do what we could to try and help him become eligible for the Champions League final by initially protesting his dismissal.

"However, we respect the referee's decision and we will therefore not be appealing against the ruling."

UEFA said both United and Barcelona had missed the deadline for filing a protest but that there were no grounds for overturning suspensions in any case.

The ban will come as a huge blow for Fletcher, a non-playing substitute at last season's final, who was sent off by Italian referee Robert Rosetti for denying Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas a goal-scoring chance.

Television replays showed however he seemed to have won the ball.

Abidal's red card against Chelsea was also viewed as harsh though Alves' caution which rules him out of the final looked straightforward.

A UEFA statement said: "Even if they had been admitted they would have been rejected as unfounded as there were no grounds for contesting the referees' original decisions."