Rooney gets two-match ban for tirade

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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has been banned for two matches following his expletive-laden tirade at a television camera, the FA confirmed Thursday.

Rooney will now miss United's upcoming Premier League clash with Fulham as well as their FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City on April 16 after an appeal by the club was rejected.

Rooney had surprisingly been charged with using abusive language after he swore into a camera following his hat-trick in the 4-2 win over West Ham at Upton Park last Saturday.

The charge carried a mandatory two-match suspension but United had appealed to have the ban cut to one match at a hearing on Wednesday.

"Rooney had admitted a charge for the use of offensive, insulting and/or abusive language, but claimed that the automatic penalty of two games was clearly excessive," an FA statement said.

"The commission did not accept the claim and Rooney will begin the standard two match suspension with immediate effect."

News of the ban came after Rooney scored the winning goal in Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

United team-mate Rio Ferdinand spoke out in defence of Rooney after the match, saying it was time to stop "lynching" the England striker.

Ferdinand's comments came as soft drinks giant Coca-Cola confirmed it had dropped Rooney from its advertising campaigns, a deal which had been worth £600,000 (683,000 euros, $980,000) a year.

"We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on," Ferdinand said.

"I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened but sometimes because of the player he is and who he is the reaction can be over the top.

"Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as I don't condone it, is not front page news.

"There are bigger things going on in the world. There are things happening in Libya and Ivory Coast and we are talking about Wayne Rooney on the front page of newspapers because he swore at a camera.

"I don't condone it but because it is him everyone goes over the top."