Man United, Barcelona protests not admitted

The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body today rejected the protests of Manchester United FC regarding the suspension of Darren Fletcher, and FC Barcelona regarding the suspension of Eric Abidal and the yellow card of Daniel Alves.

Fletcher decision
The Control and Disciplinary Body decided not to admit the protest submitted by Manchester United in relation to midfielder Darren Fletcher's red card in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal FC.

Suspensions to serve
Similarly the Control and Disciplinary Body did not admit Barcelona's protest against the red card of Eric Abidal and the caution of fellow defender Daniel Alves in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea FC. All three players are therefore suspended for one UEFA club competition match and will serve their bans when Barcelona meet Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final in Rome on 27 May.

Deadline
In reaching its decision, the Control and Disciplinary Body concluded (i) that the protests had not been submitted within the required 24-hour deadline of a match for filing protests – as specified in the disciplinary regulations – and (ii) that even if they had been admitted they would have been rejected as unfounded as there were no grounds for contesting the referees' original decisions. The decisions of the Control and Disciplinary Body can be appealed within three days of the dispatch of the written decision.