Chelsea trio will miss final

Ramires: Ruled out of the Champions League final after suspension appeal rejected

Chelsea trio Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires will all miss the UEFA Champions League final after an attempt to have their suspensions overturned failed.

FIFPro had appealed to UEFA in an attempt to ensure that the Blues players could feature in the 19th May showpiece against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

But the global players' union have seen their request turned down by European football's governing body, who will not change their rules on suspensions for at least the next three years.

Bayern will be without David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo through suspension for the final despite a similar plea for clemency on their part from FIFPro.

Ivanovic, Meireles and Ramires all received their second caution of the competition in the dramatic semi-final second leg against Barcelona at Camp Nou, ruling them out of the final.

Alaba, Badstuber and Gustavo were booked at the Bernabeu as Bayern triumphed over Real Madrid on penalties, with UEFA defending their stance despite an apparent inconsistency with international tournaments.

"Different rules can apply in different competitions. The current rules are the result of a careful, democratic procedure."
Michael van Praag Quotes of the week

Rules

Michael van Praag, the Dutch UEFA executive committee member who is head of the body's Champions League Rules group, was quoted on FIFPro's website saying: "We have just had three sessions with representatives of the European Clubs' Association and others, in which we confirmed the rule for the coming three years.

"We did not receive any request whatsoever concerning the yellow card rule, not even from the representative of Bayern Munich. And so we will be continuing the rule for the next three years."

UEFA will wipe the slate clean for yellow cards after the quarter-finals in Euro 2012 but Van Praag defended the differing stance.

He added: "Different rules can apply in different competitions. The current rules are the result of a careful, democratic procedure."

Blues captain John Terry will also be suspended after being sent off against Barcelona at Camp Nou.