Rooney to make personal appeal to Uefa

Wayne Rooney will be accompanied by England manager Fabio Capello at his Uefa appeal (EPA)

Wayne Rooney and Fabio Capello will both attend the England striker's appeal hearing against his three-match Uefa ban in person on 8 December after the meeting was rearranged yesterday specifically to enable the player to be present there.

The Football Association were successful yesterday in their application to have the appeal – to be heard at Uefa's headquarters in Nyon in Switzerland – brought forward by 24 hours in order that it would make it simpler for Rooney to attend.

Rooney (right) and United are playing away in the Champions League against Basle on 7 December and the club were planning to stay over in Switzerland after the game instead of coming straight back the same night, as is typical after European games.

It means that Rooney will now meet up in Switzerland with Capello and the FA team the following day. He will be accompanied by Club England managing director Adrian Bevington, the FA's in-house lawyer and a legal specialist whom the FA has hired specifically for the hearing. Uefa indicated to the FA earlier this week that they would be willing to listen to personal testimonies from both Rooney and Capello.

The three-match ban means that Rooney will miss all of England's group games at Euro 2012 next summer and the FA are hopeful that the three-man appeal board will reduce the ban by at least one game.

Both Capello and Rooney have already sent letters to Uefa outlining their thoughts on the red card shown to Rooney for kicking out against Miodrag Dzudevic in the final Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

The FA released a statement last night that read: "The FA can confirm that Wayne Rooney and Fabio Capello will appear at the personal hearing before the Uefa appeals body which will be considering the appeal against the decision to suspend Wayne for three matches following his sending-off against Montenegro in October. Uefa has announced the rearranged date of the hearing as Thursday 8 December, with Manchester United competing in Switzerland the evening before against FC Basle in the Champions League. Club England managing director Adrian Bevington will also attend the hearing."

FA spokesman Stuart Mawhinney said: "We have worked closely with Manchester United to ensure an agreeable date with Uefa that allows Wayne to attend the hearing in person.

"The FA has provided every support to Wayne and the England team throughout this process. Fabio Capello has also been clear about providing his own personal support – which will extend to attending the hearing with Wayne."