After agreeing to consider a “letter of appeal” from Manchester United due to the dismissal of Scotland International Darren Fletcher over the midfielder’s 2nd leg Semi - Final challenge in the box on Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, UEFA’s governing body announced they will inform Sir Alex Ferguson of their final decision on Monday.

Via TimesOnline

Fletcher was shown a red card for a challenge on Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, but United have written to the governing body to claim that the sending-off - which rules him out of the final against Barcelona in Rome on May 27 - was incorrect on the grounds that Fletcher made contact with the ball before he touched Fabregas.

Despite the fact that there is, theoretically, no appeal against a red card except in a case of mistaken identity, Uefa will consider United’s submission next week. “The Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body will meet on Monday to deal with this case,” a Uefa statement said.

However, Ferguson does not expect Fletcher to have his red card rescinded. “I am not optimistic at all,” he said. “We have to do it for Darren and sometimes in these situations, you never know. But I don’t think it will be overturned. The referee made an honest decision.”

“Darren is quite a placid lad,” he said. “He is not an over-emotional boy. He just accepts it. He takes great credit for the way he handled it. I honestly believed the referee made the right decision at the time. From his angle - and from mine - it looked like a penalty.

“It was only when I saw the replay that I saw that Darren had managed to get his leg round Fabregas and flick the ball away. Darren is an honest player, so honest if he had been an old stager he would probably have let him go on and score. But he was still determined to try and do his job and prevent a goal. In the process he gave away a penalty.”

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