SPORTS
Chelsea and Bayern Champions League final bans should be scrapped, says FIFPro
Baku, April 26 (AZERTAC). The international players' union FIFPro have called for six of the seven players banned for next month Champions League final to be allowed to play. Three of Chelsea's heroic team - Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires - who beat Barcelona on Tuesday will miss the match in Munich, while the same amount - Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber - will miss out for Bayern.
A statement said: 'FIFPro pleads for acquittal. FIFA ruled that, starting with the World Cup 2010, yellow cards awarded to players would be waived after the quarter finals. 'This means that a card awarded in the semi-final would no longer mean that the player could miss the match of his life, as, for example, happened to Michael Ballack in the 2002 World Cup. 'FIFPro applauds this decision. A final of the World Cup or European Championship is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience, one which a player works for throughout his career. That he should miss this because of a sometimes petty or unfortunate offence is, in the eyes of the worldwide players’ union FIFPro, unreasonable and disproportionate. 'FIFPro therefore proposes that from now on, yellow cards awarded after the first semi-final of the Champions League should be waived.'
The Technical Committee added: 'Some people say that this will give players the licence to kick all and sundry during the semi-final, but that is utter nonsense. 'Any serious offence will result in a red card and that still means exclusion from the final. Incidentally, yellow cards awarded in the final don’t have any further consequences, and that hasn’t given rise to rough matches has it?'
But UEFA are refusing to change their policy and released a statement, which read: ' The regulations of the competition are established at the beginning of the competition and remain in place for the duration of the season. 'Any changes to the regulations for the future would need to be proposed by the club competitions committee and approved by the UEFA executive committee.'