Like most England fans last Thursday afternoon, I too was eagerly awaiting the verdict of Wayne Rooney’s appeal against the red card he received for lashing out at Montenegro’s Miodrag Dzudovic last October. After all Rooney is our best player, some say our only world class player, and his absence would only be a catalyst for England’s failure in another major tournament.

The already slim chances of returning home victorious from Poland and Ukraine next July will only be shortened the less time Rooney spends on the pitch, so everyone connected with England rejoiced when the three-game suspension was reduced to two, with an additional match suspended for four years.

Backed by a team of four lawyers, sent by the FA to plead Rooney’s case, the Manchester United striker made his way direct from the scene of his club’s Champions League exit in Basle to Nyon, accompanied by Club England Managing Director Adrian Bevington, and of course Fabio Capello.

Rooney’s successful appeal means he misses the Group D opener against France on June 11 in Donetsk and the game in Kiev against Sweden on June 15, but will now be available for that all important final group game against co-hosts Ukraine on June 19, also in Donetsk.

THE VIEW FROM THE PREMIER LEAGUE

The FA’s support of Rooney has received a mixed reception from many Premier League managers including Kenny Dalglish, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Arsene Wenger and Neil Warnock.

Dalglish said:

“I find it a bit strange the FA are supposed to be setting an example for things yet they appeal against Rooney’s three-match ban.

“It’s not as if it was a 50-50 challenge. I don’t how they justify diluting it and don’t think it sets a very good precedent for everybody else.”

Tottenham manager Redknapp, tipped to replace Capello after the European Championships, was also critical of the FA’s backing of Rooney, saying:

“You can look at it and say it wasn’t that violent, but it doesn’t matter. If you cuff someone, you get a three-match ban. Those are the rules. If you appealed it (domestically), it would be a frivolous appeal and you would probably get four games if you went to the FA.

“For them to get it from three to two, it opens up a can of worms; there will be clubs appealing against bans and they will want to know why they aren’t getting it cut from three to two for similar situations.

“People will look at it and think ‘hang on, the FA have gone and appealed against his (Rooney’s) red, why can’t we?’”

David Moyes was supportive of the FA on the matter but did have this to say about the domestic appeal system:

“You should see us when we try to appeal – it’s absolute murder.”

Arsene Wenger also backed the FA saying:

“Who wouldn’t fight to get their best player out of jail?”

THE VIEW FROM THE FA

The FA’s Head of Media Relations, Scott Field, spoke live on talkSPORT on Friday morning about the criticism received by the FA and the claims they had been guilty of ‘double standards’ jeopardising the integrity of their RESPECT campaign in the process.

“In terms of the view on the Wayne Rooney incident and the term ‘double standards’, I think what we’re very keen to stress is that UEFA do operate a completely different process to that of the FA when it comes to red card offences,” said Field.

“They choose to deal with every single red card offence individually and determine that by a disciplinary panel. Let’s not forget that Wayne is still serving a two match suspension…

“Neil Warnock mentioned the proportionality, and that he could understand the fact that Wayne missing three games in a six game tournament is missing 50%; domestically if you served a three match suspension, your missing a far shorter period of games.

“When it comes to the RESPECT campaign, of course we take that seriously. It is a campaign we introduced, and really whilst we know that along the way, the road will get bumpy at times, and the media will always highlight, and rightly so in some instances, domestically and elsewhere, some instances in the game that obviously don’t help the RESPECT campaign along the way.

“We’ve always had appeals and the ability has always been there to do so.”

FA Chairman David Bernstein also addressed the criticism but again refused to accept that the FA’s RESPECT campaign had been seriously compromised.

“It is important that people understand that amongst the many duties of The FA we have responsibility for the England team and also, separately, to oversee the domestic game’s regulatory function,” he said.

“Our philosophy for the national team is clear. We will run this along the same lines and with the same focus and commitment as any football club in this country. Our fans would expect no less.

“To achieve this we will fully support our manager and our players.” 

WHAT NOW FOR THE FA AND RESPECT?

So if nothing else we have learnt that the FA’s own domestic appeal process differs from that of UEFA’s, but that isn’t the issue here. We know Rooney and the FA had the right of an appeal, the real issue is whether in doing so they have sacrificed their own RESPECT campaign and endorsed violent conduct in the hope that one man would inspire the England team to Euro 2012 glory next summer.

Clearly there are those who will feel that FA have undermined the RESPECT campaign, a campaign that they have worked so hard to build up over the last three seasons.

And they will surely now be called upon to respond to a glut of red card appeals from their domestic clubs who will be asking the FA for the same leniency that UEFA have shown them. After all, can the FA now honestly expect players, managers and supporters to show RESPECT for officials and their fellow professionals when they themselves can show utter contempt and disregard for it themselves, deciding to drop it and pick it up again whenever it suits?

Perhaps it was a risk the FA were willing to take in the hope that they could sweep under the carpet any questions as to whether or not this appeal had indeed been at the detriment of the RESPECT campaign. Opting instead to brush over these inconvenient questions, concentrating on the largely irrelevant subject of how their appeal process is so much better and more flexible than UEFA’s.

I for one - metatarsal injuries permitting – am thankful that Rooney will be wearing an England shirt on June 19 in Donetsk, because the other option was to standby, take it on the chin, and allow Rooney to sit out all three of England’s group games.

That was obviously a gamble the FA were not prepared to take but because of that, sadly I feel they will have a difficult task trying to re-establish a RESPECT campaign that was already struggling for support.

Follow me, Danny Gipson, on Twitter @DannyGipson