Manchester United fans may have been worried this morning to hear that the Dutch FA was due to report the red cards received by Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes to the English FA.
Such a move will put the FA in a difficult position – if they punish the players, it will be seen by Alex Ferguson and Manchester United as vendetta against them. Not a fair perspective, but that’s what you get. If the FA choose to give the players a lesser ban (say a 1-game ban), everyone will say that the English FA is bending the laws to favor their own.
Either way, they’re in a tough spot.
For Paul Scholes, the argument is more black and white. His tackle was rash, and deserved a yellow card. A straight red would be harsh, but it is still understandable in light of the recent rules implemented by FIFA at the World Cup. Ferguson would accept a 1-game without much problems, and considering that it was a bad tackle rather than a deliberate attempt to injure the player, that what Man Utd will expect as well.
For Wayne Rooney though, has a more controversial situation. Ferguson called the red card harsh, but I think he was mincing words. The card was not deserved – the ref hadnt given a previous foul like this against Solskjaer, and even if this was an isolated incident it would have been a yellow card at best.
The FA will see that, but will they have the guts to do the right thing and suspend Rooney just for one game? Let’s hope so, although I don’t have much confidence in them after McClaren’s appointment.
You can catch the video clips of the red card incidents here.
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