Soccer: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is set to miss the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on April 16th after being charged by the Football Association for his foul-mouthed on-camera tirade at the weekend.
Rooney swore into a television camera moments after completing a hat-trick against West Ham on Saturday, and the FA confirmed this evening he has been charged with "use of offensive, insulting and/or abusive language" in relation the incident.
The charge carries a two-match ban if it is accepted, and Rooney has 24 hours to respond.
Unless the 25-year-old can successfully plead that the punishment has been too severe, he will serve a two-match suspension, starting with Saturday's Barclays Premier League encounter with Fulham at Old Trafford and concluding with that eagerly-anticipated Manchester derby at Wembley for the right to meet Bolton or Stoke in next month's FA Cup final.
It had been thought Rooney would escape with a warning. The England forward issued an apology within hours of the final whistle which he hoped would lessen the possibility of any sanctions against him.
However, when an FA disciplinary panel met they decided Rooney's conduct was so poor it could not be allowed to pass unchecked.
The fact that Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore only last week declared his intention to clean up the game hardly helped, and when Professional Footballers' Association deputy chief executive John Bramhall condemned Rooney's actions, it soon became clear the idea of a warning was fanciful.
Rooney now has three options - he can deny the charge, in which case a hearing would be convened on Wednesday where there would be the risk of an increased sanction. His second option is to accept the charge, in which case he would be banned for the games against Fulham and Manchester City.
His third and most likely option is to accept the charge but to appeal against the severity of the ban, but that approach could also run the risk of inviting a more severe ban if the appeal is deemed to be frivolous.
The news is a major blow to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who is trying to prepare a team for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with Rooney's position set to be made clear before that game kicks off.
An FA statement read: "The FA has charged Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for the use of offensive, insulting and/or abusive language.
"This charge relates to an incident during his side's fixture with West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday April 2, 2011.
"Rooney has until 6pm on April 5 to respond to the charge."
The game at West Ham was beamed around the world by Sky Sports and the incident prompted an on-air apology from the broadcaster.
The 25-year-old upset England fans during last summer's World Cup when he turned to a television camera and verbally criticised them at the end of the dismal goalless draw with Algeria.
Bramhall, speaking on behalf of the PFA, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Taking into account the highly pressurised situation within the game, it is still an action that wasn't acceptable and Wayne's apology confirms that.
"He has apologised immediately after the game and has clearly realised that they are not the actions you would expect of a player in his position."
