Roo and Capello to attend hearing

Wayne Rooney and Fabio Capello will both attend the UEFA disciplinary hearing into the red card which threatens to rule the striker out of the Euro 2012 group phase, the Football Association have confirmed.

At the request of the FA, UEFA have agreed to bring the hearing forward by one day, to December 8th, which will allow Manchester United ace Rooney to make a personal appearance.

As United are in Switzerland for a UEFA Champions Leagueencounter with Basel the previous evening and will not fly back to England until the Thursday anyway due to flying restrictions, Sir Alex Ferguson has given his blessing for Rooney to make the short trip to Nyon in order to plead his case.

And Capello will be with him as the FA legal team attempt to reduce a three-match ban imposed for the red card Rooney received for kicking out at Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic in Podgorica last month.

Appeal

"The FA can confirm that Wayne Rooney and Fabio Capello will appear at the personal hearing before the UEFA Appeals Body which will be considering the appeal against the decision to suspend Wayne for three matches following his sending off against Montenegro in October," confirmed the FA.

"UEFA has announced the re-arranged date of the hearing as Thursday, December 8, with Manchester United competing in Switzerland the evening before against FC Basle in the UEFA Champions League.

"Club England managing director Adrian Bevington will also attend the hearing."

FA spokesman Stuart Mawhinney said: "We have worked closely with Manchester United to ensure an agreeable date with UEFA that allows Wayne to attend the hearing in person.

"The FA has provided every support to Wayne and the England team throughout this process.

"Fabio Capello has also been clear about providing his own personal support - which will extend to attending the hearing with Wayne."

Rooney has been able to offer no explanation for his actions during the 2-2 draw, which he admitted were "stupid".

Suspension

If the present suspension is upheld, Rooney would miss the entire group phase of Euro 2012, although Capello has already said he would still take his star striker to the finals in Poland and Ukraine.

The Italian opted to leave the 26-year-old out of the wins over Spain and Sweden though in order to look at some alternative candidates for the striking berths.

Realistically, the best Rooney can hope for is that the ban is cut to two matches and whilst there is technically a chance the suspension could be increased, UEFA's complicated regulations allow for England to withdraw their appeal at the first sign of a problem.