Ferguson is not optimistic about Fletcher

SOCCER/ UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: ALEX FERGUSON has admitted he is resigned to bad news about the chances of Darren Fletcher receiving a reprieve from Uefa to play in the Champions League final.

Manchester United will discover on Monday whether their attempt to overturn Fletcher's red card has been successful but the mood at Old Trafford is of resignation.

"I'm not optimistic at all but we have to do this for Darren, really," Ferguson said. "Sometimes in these situations, you never know. But I don't really think it will be overturned. The referee made an honest decision and I have to say that I thought it was the right decision at the time too.

"From the referee's angle and from where I was, I thought it was a penalty. It is only when you see the replays you see Darren got his leg round Fabregas and poked the ball away. An old-stager might have thought 'just let him go and score' given the position we were in but he was still honest and determined enough to do his job and try to prevent the goal."

There was disappointment for another of Ferguson's players, ahead of tomorrow's derby match against Manchester City, when Wes Brown discovered that he will miss the rest of the season because of complications in his recovery from a broken metatarsal.

Brown, however, was never likely to feature prominently at the Stadio Olimpico on May 27th, whereas Ferguson acknowledged that Fletcher was almost certain to be involved.

"He's a placid lad," Ferguson said of a player he had described as "distraught" immediately after Tuesday's semi-final second leg at the Emirates. "He's not an over-emotional boy and he accepts it. It's disappointing obviously, but he takes great credit for the way he has handled it all."

Despite the controversy, it emerged last night that Rosetti is under consideration to take charge of the final, a possibility that might explain why Ferguson has been unusually diplomatic about the Italian's performance.

"It's a European Cup final so you expect the referee to be the top one," Ferguson added. "It may be Mr Rosetti because the game is in Italy and sometimes it goes that way, in recognition of where the game is actually played. But I don't have any worries about that."

Uefa will discuss Fletcher's case at a meeting of their disciplinary and control body on Monday. Barcelona will be awaiting the verdict with great interest and if Fletcher is reprieved the Catalan club may ask Uefa to look at Eric Abidal's red card against Chelsea on Wednesday, as well as the yellow card that means Daniel Alves also misses the final.

A partisan Ferguson, however, insisted Barcelona would not have a case with regard to either player. "In the case of Abidal he prevented the boy from a scoring position and I don't think there's any doubt about that. The only contentious part was whether anyone could have got back to Anelka and I don't think so because he is quick. As for Alves, I can't remember the free-kick but it was one of four or five fouls he gave away. It was for repeated fouls."

Barcelona's two-legged victory against Chelsea has set up what Ferguson believes will be the "perfect final" and he was sceptical, at best, when it was put to him that United's cross-city neighbours could add their name to Europe's elite clubs over the next few years.

"It really depends on who they buy," he said of City's ambitions under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group. "It's going to be a busy summer for them obviously and there are a lot of clubs, knowing that City have the money, who will just add noughts on to every player. That's the hard part for Mark Hughes, to value the players he wants at a proper value - his values rather than the values of the selling club."

Meanwhile, chief executive David Gill believes Manchester United will one day play in India after sealing their first €11 million sponsorship deal with telecom services provider Airtel.

United have long viewed India as ripe for commercial expansion and have held discussions with a series of major companies about replacing AIG as their shirt sponsors.

United are believed to be getting €2.2 million per annum over the five years of the contract, with Gill viewing the venture as a broad canvass. Guardian Service