• Euro 2012

Rooney ban reduced to two games

ESPNsoccernet staff
December 8, 2011
Wayne Rooney received good news on Thursday © Getty Images
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Wayne Rooney's ban has been reduced to two games on appeal, with the third game suspended for four years.

UEFA's Disciplinary and Control Body handed Rooney a three-match ban after his petulant kick at Montenegro's Miodrag Dzudovic in England's final Euro 2012 qualifier in October. England had appealed against the severity of the ban.

With no more competitive games for England before next summer's finals in Ukraine and Poland, Rooney would have missed the group stage of the tournament. Now he will miss the opening games against France and Sweden and will be available for the final group game against Ukraine in Donetsk.

The third game of the suspension will still kick in if Rooney is guilty of violent conduct in the next four years.

UEFA originally deemed Rooney's challenge an assault, and the rules state that carries a "suspension for three competition matches or for a specified period for assaulting another player or other person present at the match".

The Football Association is thought to have used Andrei Arshavin's two-match ban for an almost identical offence in Russia's last qualifier for Euro 2008 as part of its evidence. It also also argued that Rooney's offence was not comparable to that of Maccabi Tel-Aviv's Yoav Ziv, who was given a three-match ban for kicking his boot at a linesman against Stoke City in the Europa League.

The Manchester United striker was joined by England coach Fabio Capello and four lawyers as part of an attempt to reduce his punishment.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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