According to the FA, it has authority only in exceptional circumstances (i.e. read when Sky Sports make a big deal of a ¨dirty¨ foreign Arsenal player committing a foul).
What a surprise to see then that FIFA themselves have now rubbished those claims.
Sepp Blatter says that the FA should have banned Rooney and that it is allowed to use video evidence, even if the ref has seen it.
Blatter insisted that ¨"the FA can impose or change a decision if a red or yellow card has been given to the wrong player. If there's violence the national association can intervene and punish a player - this is permitted at the discretion of the national association."
Obviously, we know the FA will never use its discretion to punish a Man Utd player who happens to be England´s number one striker. The fact that Rooney´s indiscipline is never punished always costs England at major tournaments where international refs are less likely to stand for elbowing or ninety minutes of swearing.
Had Rooney been investigated, he would have been banned for at least three games and it would have dented United´s title hopes even further. But as we have seen yesterday, refs and the FA will still have a large say as to where the title will end this season.
