John Terry's Appeal Looks Doomed to Fail

As it stands, John Terry is set to be suspended for three games due to his sending off against Manchester City on Saturday.

Chelsea have appealed the decision, but a close look at the rule book forces one to come to the conclusion that the card will be be upheld and Terry will miss the crucial game with Manchester United this weekend.

The Football Association have confirmed that Terry was sent off for serious foul play, not for a professional foul.

If the offence had been deemed a professional foul, Terry would have had cause for optimism. Since Ricardo Carvalho and Bosingwa were close to the incident, Chelsea could have argued that Terry wasn't the last man and thus should have only been given a yellow card.

FIFA classifies "serious foul play" as when a player "uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play."

There is no doubt that what Terry did was excessive. He likely did what he did because he thought he'd only get a yellow card, a punishment worth taking as it quelled the chance of a goal for City.

The shock on his face when Mark Halsey brandished the red card seems to suggest as much.

To successfully get the red card rescinded, Chelsea have to prove that the offence didn't warrant a yellow card in the first place, because the rules state that a red card cannot be downgraded to a yellow.

However, the consensus is that Terry definitely deserved a yellow card. Making Chelsea's case will be like trying to get blood from a stone.

I might be reading into things too much, but I think the FA's confirmation that the red card was for serious foul play and not a professional foul is an attempt to cover their backs and protect Mark Halsey from criticism.

A decision on the appeal will be reached tomorrow, but I'm not holding out much hope.