Manchester United and England’s striker Wayne Rooney has been suspended for two matches and fined 3500 Euros (2400 pounds) by FIFA for his straight red card against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final.
Rooney was found guilty of violent conduct (which is how you would describe trodding on someone’s privates) and will miss England’s first two Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Andorra and Macedonia.
The rumours had been that Rooney would be hit with a 5 match ban in a bid to make an example out of the striker. Video replays of the incident are not conclusive on whether Rooney deliberately hit Carvalho in the groin or if it was a misstep. Rooney’s statement earlier this week had stated that he had been fouled several times before the incident by Carvalho and that Carvalho had ‘slipped into the area he was about to step in’.
In honesty, your judgement of the incident will depend on your judgement of Rooney’s character and his past. Because of his temper (and past displays of it both in international matches and while playing for his club) many people have said that the stamp was deliberate. I’m not so sure, but then again I’m a United fan.
FIFA have given Rooney a lighter punishment than the one received by the Italian midfielder De Rossi for his elbow in USA striker Brian McBride face got him a 4-match suspension (worse, he missed most of Italy’s World Cup). Does that mean Rooney is less guilty? Doesn’t mean anything actually, because FIFA’s whacked 🙂
Ronaldo’s part in the incident will not be investigated.
Source:
Rooney handed 2-match ban (BBC Sport)
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