Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has criticised the FA for double standards in regards to their appeal on Wayne Rooney’s behalf.
The Manchester United striker saw his three-match suspension for getting sent off for England against Montenegro reduced by one game after an appeal to Uefa on Thursday, which means he can feature in the final Euro 2012 group stage fixture with Ukraine.
The Scottish coach feels that the governing body has used double standards, especially as they claim to be making example of offenders in the game in England.
‘I find it a bit strange the FA are supposed to be setting an example for things yet they appeal against Rooney’s three-match ban,” Dalglish is quoted as saying in The Telegraph.
”It’s not as if it was a 50-50 challenge. I don’t how they justify diluting it and don’t think it sets a very good precedent for everybody else,” he stated.
The FA have hit back with a statement of their own, defending their decision to work on Rooney’s behalf.
”To promote speed and consistency, stakeholders in England agreed a standard formula encompassing a fixed penalty sanction should be applied across the game by The FA,” the statement reads.
”The system has been in operation for many years and meets the demands of the domestic game.
”The FA’s system allows clubs to make a claim of wrongful dismissal – to reduce a sanction to zero – or appeal the severity of a sanction, both of these processes are dealt with prior to the player’s next fixture.
”Uefa chooses to operate a different process for European matches, based on a sliding scale, under which each sanction is determined individually by a disciplinary panel.
”In any event a minimum one game ban will always be applied by Uefa.
”This process meets the demands of Uefa football where the period between fixtures is greater than that in the domestic game,” it concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
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