United likely to appeal ban

MANCHESTER UNITED have expressed their disappointment at the five-match ban handed to Roy Keane by the Football Association and are now considering whether to appeal against the punishment.

Keane has been banned for five games and fined a record £150,000 after he was found guilty of two disrepute charges by a FA disciplinary committee relating to a horror tackle on Manchester City midfielder Alfie Haaland in April 2001.

After a seven-hour hearing at the Reebok Stadium, the 31-year-old Manchester United skipper discovered his fate following the misconduct charges relating to his recently released autobiography.

The ban will run from November 4, just days after United manager Alex Ferguson believed his captain would return from a hip operation.

It rules Keane out of all domestic matches, starting with the Worthington Cup third round clash with Leicester at Old Trafford on November 5 and including the Maine Road Manchester derby the following Saturday and the crunch encounter with bitter rivals Liverpool on December 1. He will return to domestic action against Arsenal the following weekend, although he will be available for United’s remaining Champions League group games for the duration of his ban.

In comparison to the FA, who relied on the Cork-born player’s book and video evidence to state their case, Keane assembled a huge list of witnesses in an attempt to clear his name.

Ferguson, who only returned from his recent trip to South Africa this morning, Keane’s ghost-writer Eamon Dunphy, a high ranking official from publishers Penguin and even, it is believed, a member of Manchester City’s medical staff were all in attendance, alongside club solicitor Maurice Watkins, the Irishman’s own lawyer Michael Kennedy and QC Thomas Shields.

However, a three-man disciplinary panel, chaired by FA disciplinary chief Barry Bright, concluded Keane’s tackle on Manchester City’s Alfie Haaland at Old Trafford in April 2001 was ‘improperly motivated by revenge’ and that he had profited from the tackle by going over the gory details in his book.

‘‘Manchester United’s Roy Keane has tonight been found guilty on both counts of misconduct by the FA,’’ read an FA statement.

‘‘Keane will receive a five-match suspension and a £150,000 fine, both subject to appeal within 14 days.’’

Apart from the huge fine, effectively two weeks wages for one of the country’s highest paid players, plus costs from both sides, the FA have followed chief executive Adam Crozier’s stated aim to crack down on foul play by ensuring Keane will sit out his ban.

Ferguson had claimed Keane would be back in action ‘within a month’, following the hip operation many believed was timed to include any suspension he might incur.

Last night however, Keane and his manager, the only senior United official to see a transcript of the book before its release, joined Watkins in a show of solidarity as it was announced he would consider an appeal over the next few days. ‘‘Clearly, after the arguments that have been put forward in Roy’s defence, we are disappointed with the verdict,’’ said Watkins.

‘‘After such a long day, now is not the time to make quick decisions, so we will be reviewing the question of appeal over the next few days.’’

Despite the legal arguments, which are thought to have centred around a belief that Dunphy had ‘incorrectly paraphrased’ Keane’s words and also that the Irishman had already served a three-match ban for the tackle following his dismissal by match referee David Elleray, the case against him seemed clear cut.

In his book, Keane admitted he was aggrieved by Haaland’s accusation that he was feigning injury when he had in fact ruptured cruciate knee ligaments making an ill-advised tackle on the Norwegian in a Premiership encounter against his adversary’s former club Leeds in September 1997.

After spending nearly 12 months out of the game, the Irishman returned to play a major role in United’s treble triumph in 1999 and then exacted revenge on Haaland with a knee-high tackle late in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last year. In his book, Keane stated: ‘‘I’d waited almost 180 minutes for Alfie. I’d waited long enough. I hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that.’’

Haaland has not completed a full game since the incident but the knee injury which has ruled him out is in his other leg.

Ironically the ban comes in the wake of Keane donating 10,000 worth of playing gear to his first club Rockmount over the weekend.

The gift consists of 12 sets of Diadora gear and training bibs which will be used by the club’s schoolboy and youths teams along with the minors, juniors, Munster Senior League side and by the Over-35’s.

“Roy is the best there is and he’s never forgotten this club or his Cork roots. It is an incredible gesture and he has the club a small fortune,” the club’s joint manager James Corcoran said.

The games Keane will miss : November 5, Leicester, Worthington Cup (h); November 9, Man City, Premiership (a); November 17, West Ham, Premiership, (a); November 23, Newcastle, Premiership, (h). December 1, Liverpool, Premiership, (a).