Soccer: England coach hits out over Rooney ban

England soccer coach Steve McClaren has questioned the decision-making at the Football Association (FA) which led to Wayne Rooney's suspension for a red card in a pre-season tournament being upheld.

The Manchester United striker was controversially sent off for violent conduct in a friendly against Porto in Amsterdam on August 4 and faces a three-match ban.

Team mate Paul Scholes also received a red card but when United appealed against the decisions their plea was dismissed by an independent disciplinary commission set up by the FA.

"The decision has not made my job any easier in building relationships with the clubs," McClaren said after his debut match as England coach, a 4-0 win over Greece in a midweek friendly in Manchester.

"I am not criticising anybody about making a decision or anything but when I have to build a relationship with the clubs and the managers and decisions are made like this one with Wayne Rooney then that obviously makes my job very, very difficult.

"In this case the decision has been made by somebody within the FA who I don't know. It's not somebody close to me. It's certainly not Brian Barwick or a department near me. I was surprised -- absolutely."

Rooney has a groin injury and, having missed the England game, is unlikely to play for United against Fulham tonight, even though his suspension does not begin until August 23.

He also faces a two-match international suspension after being sent off against Portugal in the World Cup so he will not be available to face Andorra and Macedonia in Euro 2008 qualifiers next month.

Although the FA stress the decision over Rooney's latest suspension was taken by an independent commission and, therefore, McClaren's criticism is not aimed directly at them, they are still facing anger over the way it was handled.

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Neil Mellor were sent off in the same tournament in 2003 but escaped punishment because the Dutch FA opted not to report the red cards to their counterparts in London.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said he was briefed that his players would be reprieved, as Liverpool's were, and is therefore doubly disappointed at the outcome.

The fact that the England head coach feels strongly enough to go public with his thoughts has added to the controversy.

"It's affected Manchester United, it's affected England and it's affected the player," he said.

"I'm disappointed for the player, disappointed for Manchester United and disappointed for England."

- REUTERS