Van Nistelrooij appeal lodged
Monday, July 5, 2004
Article summary
Dutch football's ruling body has appealed against Ruud van Nistelrooij's ban for insulting a referee.
Article body
Two-match ban
The Manchester United FC player was suspended by UEFA for two international matches after comments made to Swedish official Anders Frisk after the Netherlands' 2-1 UEFA EURO 2004™ semi-final defeat by eventual runners-up Portugal.
World Cup campaign
If the KNVB's appeal to UEFA is unsuccessful, Van Nistelrooij will miss the first two games of the Dutch 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. The first of these is at home to the Czech Republic on 8 September, the second away to F.Y.R. Macedonia on 9 October.