England will be without Wayne Rooney for the entire group stage of the European Championships!
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England will be without Wayne Rooney for the entire group stage of the European Championships after being handed a three-match ban following his sending off against Montenegro.
The Manchester United forward was dismissed during England's final group stage qualifier after kicking out at Montenegrin Miodrag Dzudovic.
It was Rooney's first dismissal in six years in UEFA competition however, the governing body have considered the incident serious enough to rule the forward out of England's first three group matches at next year's tournament.
A UEFA statement said: "The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has today handed down a three-match suspension to England forward Wayne Rooney following his dismissal during the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier in Montenegro last Friday, 7 October.
"Today's decision was taken in relation to the red card shown to Rooney for assault after 74 minutes of England's final Group G game, the 2-2 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica."
The 25-year-old would be considered a major selection gamble for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, with no guarantee over whether he'd feature, and thereby denying a spot to one of England's reserve forwards.
Fabio Capello stated following the sending-off that he'd begin looking at alternatives incase Rooney's ban was increased by more than the standard one match, but the Italian boss may need to consider being without him altogether after an extension that could see the forward unused throughout the tournament.
The Football Association, who were campaigning for Rooney's ban to be reduced, can appeal the extension, but risk seeing the ban further extended if UEFA deem the appeal to be frivolous.
An FA statement read: "The FA await the full reasons from the disciplinary committee, and will give full consideration to the decision internally, before deciding on any response to UEFA or making any further public comment."
