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29 March 2024

UEFA won't wipe Champions League bans for players

Published
By AP

UEFA will not wipe the suspensions preventing six Bayern Munich and Chelsea players featuring in the Champions League final despite an appeal from the global football players' union to change the rule.

Bayern's David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires are serving one-match UEFA bans for picking up their third bookings in the competition in the semifinals.

``UEFA said it will not respond to the appeal for clemency for the six players who will have to miss the coming Champions League final because they were awarded a yellow card in the second match of their semifinal,'' FIFPro said in a statement. ``In fact, UEFA states the rule will stay in force for the coming three years.''

A yellow-card amnesty rule already applies after the quarterfinals in UEFA's European Championship and FIFA's World Cup.

``Different rules can apply in different competitions,'' UEFA executive committee member Michael van Praag, who heads the body's Champions League Rules group, said in the FIFPro statement.

Van Praag said UEFA ``did not receive any request whatsoever concerning the yellow card rule, not even from the representative of Bayern Munich.''

The Champions League final is in Munich on May 19.