Rooney´s Euro 2012 ban reduced

England star Wayne Rooney is free to
play in the final game of the Euro 2012
group stages after having his three-
match ban reduced.
The Manchester United striker, 26,
successfully had his ban reduced to two
matches by UEFA on Thursday, meaning
he can feature in England's Group D clash
against Ukraine on June 19, 2012.
Rooney was red-carded in England's final
qualifier for the tournament, after kicking
out at defender Miodrag Dzudovic in the
2-2 draw against Montenegro in October.
The original ban would have seen the 73-
time international miss all of England's
group matches, against France, Sweden
and Ukraine.
The third game of the ban has now been
suspended for four years, meaning that if
Rooney lands himself in any more trouble
in UEFA-run competition before the finals,
it could be reinstated.
Rooney must avoid any misdemeanours,
therefore, in the Europa League with his
club. He will also take part in a UEFA
community program.
Rooney was in Nyon, Switzerland, at
UEFA's headquarters, along with four
lawyers and England manager Fabio
Capello to argue the case for a reduced
punishment.
Club England director Adrian Bevington
was 'very pleased' with the outcome of
the appeal, explaining its conditions.
"The suspension is now suspended for
four years so Wayne will be available for
the final group game of the European
Championships against Ukraine - so in
effect it's a two-match suspension with
one carried over a four-year period for
the national teams," Bevington told
reporters.
"We're very pleased with that today.
Wayne's presence here was clearly
important so I'd like to make a special
thanks to Manchester United; to David Gill
and to Sir Alex Ferguson for releasing
Wayne to be present."
"Wayne has also agreed to support one
day of a UEFA program during the
forthcoming period and we would expect
him to do so while he's on national team
duty - so there will be no impact on his
Manchester United time there as well."
"So we're very grateful for the time
we've been given by UEFA today. The
commission considered everything. They
listened to evidence from Wayne and
from Fabio Capello as well and we're
pleased with the outcome."
"We've had a very fair hearing. Clearly it
was very important that both Wayne and
Fabio attended and obviously the
outcome of Wayne being available for the
third group game is a positive result for
us."