FA ready to back Rooney

11 October 2011 09:13
FA chief Adrian Bevington has pledged to do everything in his power to ensure Wayne Rooney is available as early as possible at Euro 2012.[LNB] Rooney will definitely miss the start of the tournament after being sent off in Friday's 2-2 draw with Montenegro to earn a suspension.[LNB]However, UEFA will not decide until Thursday whether to increase his automatic one-match ban.[LNB]Reports suggest Rooney has written a letter to UEFA requesting that his sentence is not extended, while FA director of communications Bevington says he has been working hard behind the scenes to seek leniency.[LNB]And Bevington has indicated that the FA would be prepared to launch an appeal if the striker is handed anything more than a one-game ban. [LNB]"We are still waiting to be advised by the Uefa disciplinary group as to what the penalty will be," Bevington told Sky Sports News.[LNB]"We have been working very hard behind the scenes to ensure that we are prepared to support Wayne in any way we can.[LNB]"If it does lead to an appeal process, or any supplementary evidence we can submit to support him, we are not disputing that he was sent off for a red-card offence, but it is very important to us as an organisation that we try and look after all our players.[LNB]"And I would like to say, on the record, that Wayne conducted himself incredibly well after the game.[LNB]"He was very apologetic and I felt he handled it very maturely.[LNB]"We will do all that we can to try and ensure that Wayne is available to us as soon as possible in the finals."[LNB]UEFA will study footage of the incident and take note of any submissions they receive from the FA, Fabio Capello or Rooney.[LNB]"There are lots of possible sanctions going from a warning to a big fine and three-game ban," said a UEFA spokesman.[LNB]"The disciplinary body, based on the referee's report, makes a decision.[LNB]"This happens pretty often but depends on the situation and also on the past of the player, if it is a first red card or not."

Source: Team_Talk