Keane opts not to appeal over five-match suspension

The Football Association confirmed yesterday that it has not received an appeal from Roy Keane over the five-match ban and £150,000 fine which was handed down last month following comments made in the Manchester United captain's controversial autobiography.

However, United's legal experts poured scorn on the FA statement. Representatives of club and player are in possession of an official FA letter, dated 25 October, which confirms that Keane had 14 days to appeal against his punishment from the date of the letter.

The FA has refused to confirm the existence of the letter and said they were sticking by yesterday's deadline. It was thought that the 14-day deadline would run from the date of the original hearing at the Reebok Stadium on 15 October.

The United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was the first man to raise doubts over the issue when, in his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday's Champions' League match with Maccabi Haifa, he suggested the actual deadline was Thursday. Further investigations revealed a belief at FA headquarters that the deadline ran from the date the official confirmation letter was issued to Keane, which they claimed was 18 October.

That opinion was confirmed by a statement released on the governing body's official website yesterday: "At 5.30pm, the Football Association had not received an appeal from Roy Keane regarding the five-match suspension and £150,000 fine brought against [Roy Keane] at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, October 15. Roy Keane had 14 days in which to respond from Friday, October 18, the date on which he was sent official notification of the hearing's findings. Keane's ban is due to start on November 4."