Boro signing set to learn fate

Middlesbrough’s new signing Emanuel Pogatetz will have to wait until next Friday to learn his fate after launching an appeal against his 24-week ban.

The 22-year-old Austria international flew to Moscow on Tuesday to argue his case with Russian officials after learning he faces six months on the sidelines for a tackle leaving Shinnik Yaroslavl’s Yaroslav Kharitonskiy with a double leg fracture.

Boro were expecting the appeal to be heard today, but will now have to wait until the end of next week to discover just how long the ban will be for their £1.8m (€2.6m) signing from Bayer Leverkusen.

Pogatetz made the eight-hour drive from Moscow to Yaroslavl and back again to offer his apologies to Kharitonskiy following an outcry in Russia at the incident.

The Austrian left the country, shortly after his final game on loan at Spartak Moscow, to conclude his move to Teesside without realising the extent of Kharitonskiy’s injury.

Boro are hoping the severity of the punishment is a fair reflection of the anger, and that his apology and explanation will work in his favour.

The Football Association would have no choice but to enforce the ban under new FIFA regulations should the Russians include details of it with his international registration, which they have indicated they will do.