Darren Fletcher’s hopes of a reprieve from Uefa following his red card in the Champions League semi final against Arsenal have been dashed.
The Scot will now miss the final after Europe’s governing body confirmed that there is no appeals process, even though he seemed harshly dealt with by referee Roberto Rosetti.
The Italian adjudged Fletcher to have fouled Cesc Fabregas, although the United player only made contact with his opponent after he had won the ball.
United were pinning their hopes on the referee admitting to making an error in his official match report but Uefa have insisted that even if that turns out to be the case, the sending off will stand.
A spokesman said:
Manchester United have the right to protest the decision within 24 hours of the match.
However, the protest is only admissible if the referee made an error and mistakenly identified and cautioned or sent off the wrong player.
There cannot be an appeal against a factual decision taken by the referee and there is nothing to indicate that the referee made a mistake in identifying Fletcher as the player he penalised last night.
After Tuesday’s game, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson described the prospect of Fletcher missing out on the final, against either Chelsea or Barcelona, as “a tragedy.”
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May 6th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I agree with the sending off. Fletcher had made slight contact with the ball first, but even with slight contact I felt that Fabregas still could have gotten to the ball, meaning Fletcher denying Fabregas the chance at goal. Right decision in my books.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Chris… thats utter nonsense… watch the tackle over and over again from all angles. Fletcher clearly takes the ball before fabregas.. you only have to see the direction of the ball change so cleary before he even touched cesc. a MAJOR mistake one of which I feel united should contest. United always come under massive criticism from ‘cheating’ but i cleary feel that this time along with many in the past they have been cheated.
May 6th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
i think that it was fair for the penalty but the sending of was way too far. A yellow card wouldve been sufficient, but i gues the ref had to give some leneance to Arsenal getting wrecked.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:06 am
The rule is clear, if the last man fouls a player is a red card and that was what happened, so stop crying Man U babies and start worrying because here comes Barça.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
i disagree completely with the red card!As a professional referee i explain.When giving a red card the referee must know the root reason of the player.
in the case of Darren fletcher, Man utd is winning by 3 - 0 and in the penalty area the utd defender make a good tackle from the beginning by touching the ball properly.But he finally make a mistake accidentally when his second leg twist with frabregas.On the point of view, it is a penalty!
However, no card is necessary in this process even if he is the last defender.
As a conclusion, has the man utd player commit a big foul?
or the type of foul that you are the last defender and commit to save your team as formerly Vidic did? No so it is crystal clear, there is penalty but no card at all.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
only amateur football fan can speak like this so who is the baby?
May 8th, 2009 at 8:50 am
MAN UTD FOR Life Stuff That Ref
May 12th, 2009 at 6:24 am
you can argue all you want that he got the ball with his tackle, but he deserved what he got because he was dumb enough to make that challenge when you are 3-0 up.