Ribery appears at UEFA appeal hearing

Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery arrived for a UEFA hearing on Wednesday to try to overturn a three-match ban which threatens to keep him out of the Champions League final.

Ribery is set to miss the match against Inter Milan on May 22 unless Bayern can persuade UEFA’s appeal hearing to cut the three-match ban imposed on the French player after he was sent off in the semi-final.

Ribery arrived at the headquarters of European football’s governing body here accompanied by Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

The German team are anxious to get their star midfielder back for their first final since 2001. Rummenigge said earlier this week that he would try to convince the appeals body “that it was not an assault, only a rough foul.”

Ribery was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez in the first-half of Bayern’s 1-0 win over Lyon on April 21.

He has already been kept out of one match, the 3-0 second-leg win in Lyon last week.

Ribery has endured a difficult few weeks after he was questioned by French police a fortnight ago during an investigation into the under-age call-girl scandal which has rocked the France football team.