UEFA Must Follow FIFA and Scrap Champions League Final Bans for Two Yellow Cards

For John Terry, the punishment fits the crime. The Chelsea captain, purposely or not, drove a knee into the back of Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez and picked up a straight red card. It was violent conduct and he will rightly miss the Champions League final next month.

But for his teammates, Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meireles, who will also be suspended for the match against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, I have nothing but sympathy.

All three will miss the biggest games of their careers because of a rule that just about everybody I've ever met completely disagrees with.

Yes, they picked up a pair of yellow cards during the knockout stages of an elite competition. But are two bookings, as easy as they are to come by in the modern game, really worthy of a ban for a major final? In the strongest possible terms, absolutely not.

What's even more exacerbating is the fact only Ramires was booked twice against Barcelona. Both Ivanovic and Meireles carried yellow cards forward from Chelsea's quarterfinal against Benfica into the tie.

This is that rare case where FIFA have got it right. For the 2010 World Cup, they decided to wipe off yellow cards picked up before the semifinals stage, meaning only players sent off would miss the final.

(World Cup semis being one-off matches, rather than two-legged affairs as we have in the Champions League.)

The game's governing body cited in particular the example of Germany's Michael Ballack, who missed the 2002 World Cup final against Brazil after picking up two yellow cards en route.

They could also have referenced Argentina's Claudio Caniggia, who missed his team's 1990 final appearance for the same reason. Or Italy's Alessandro Costacurta, who was robbed of an appearance in the 1994 showpiece.

The Champions League has no shortage of similar tales to tell. But as yet, UEFA has done nothing about it.

AC Milan were without their legendary captain, Franco Baresi, for the 1994 final against Barcelona after he was booked against Monaco in the semis.

In Manchester United's 1999 Treble season, both Paul Scholes and Roy Keane missed the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on the two-yellow-cards rule. United lost Darren Fletcher in similar circumstances for their 2009 final against Barcelona.

Juventus lost the 2003 final to Milan without Pavel Nedved, that year's Ballon d'Or winner, after he picked up a second yellow card in their semifinal against Real Madrid.

And in 2009, Barcelona took on Manchester United without Dani Alves, who collected a second yellow in their semifinal against Chelsea.

This year could be the cruelest of them all.

Chelsea, as we know, will be without Ramires, Ivanovic and Meireles on the two-yellows rule. And as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich prepare to do battle later today, the likelihood of further suspension heartache looms large.

Bayern players one booking away from missing the final include their captain Philipp Lahm and his fellow German international Thomas Muller.  Real Madrid have Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso on equally precarious ground.

We can only hope the officials know what's at stake and act accordingly, because nobody deserves to miss a Champions League final for two yellow cards.

Sadly for the Chelsea three, it's already too late.