Darren Fletcher, the Manchester United midfielder who was sent off in the dying minutes of his side's Champions League semi-final victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last week, will not have his red card rescinded, and will be suspended for the final in Rome, UEFA have confirmed today.Barcelona's Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal will also miss the final, after they picked up suspensions due to cards awarded in the Catalans' semi-final with Chelsea.
UEFA confirmed that there was no dispensation available to them to grant Fletcher under the current rules, and issued a statement which read, "The Control and Disciplinary Body decided not to admit the protest submitted by Manchester United in relation to midfielder Darren Fletcher's red card in the Uefa Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal.
"Similarly, the Control and Disciplinary Body did not admit Barcelona's protest against the red card of Eric Abidal and the caution of fellow defender Daniel Alves in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea.
"All three players are therefore suspended for one UEFA club competition match and will serve their bans when Barcelona meet Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final in Rome on 27 May."
The statement continued, "In reaching its decision, the Control and Disciplinary Body concluded (i) that the protests had not been submitted within the required 24-hour deadline of a match for filing protests – as specified in the disciplinary regulations – and (ii) that even if they had been admitted they would have been rejected as unfounded as there were no grounds for contesting the referees' original decisions.
"The decisions of the Control and Disciplinary Body can be appealed within three days of the dispatch of the written decision," it concluded.
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
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