Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been banned for two matches following his expletive-laden tirade at a television camera, the FA confirmed yesterday.

Rooney will now miss United’s upcoming Premier League match against Fulham as well as their FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City on April 16 after an appeal by the club was rejected.

Rooney had surprisingly been charged with using abusive language after he swore into a camera following his hat-trick in the 4-2 win over West Ham last Saturday.

The charge carried a mandatory two-match suspension but United had appealed to have the ban cut to one match .

News of the suspension came after Rooney scored the winning goal in Manchester United’s 1-0 Champions League win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Rooney said in a statement he was “gutted” at the outcome.

“I am gutted to miss two matches, one of which is an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley,” Rooney said.

“I am not the first player to have sworn on TV and I won’t be the last.

“Unlike others who have been caught swearing on camera, I apologised immediately. And yet I am the only person banned for swearing. That doesn’t seem right.”

United also expressed dismay at the ban.“Manchester United is clearly very disappointed with the decision,” a club statement said.

“The club put forward a very strong case to have the punishment reduced, which was unsuccessful.”

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has dropped Rooney from its advertising campaigns, a deal which had been worth £600,000 a year.