Manchester United have accepted UEFA's decision to uphold Darren Fletcher's Champions League red card.

UEFA had earlier rejected United's protest against the Scotland midfielder's red card in the semi-final against Arsenal and although the club have the right of a further appeal it was made clear they stood little chance of success.

Barcelona's protests over defenders Eric Abidal and Dani Alves were also rejected by UEFA's control and disciplinary committee on Monday, and those players too will miss the final in Rome on May 27.

A United spokesman said: "Darren is an honest player and we felt we should do what we could to try and help him become eligible for the Champions League final by initially protesting his dismissal.

"However, we respect the referee's decision and we will therefore not be appealing against today's ruling."

UEFA said both United and Barcelona had missed the deadline for filing A protest but that there were no grounds for overturning suspensions in any case.

The ban will come as a huge blow for Fletcher, a non-playing substitute at last season's final, who was sent off by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti for denying Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas a goal-scoring chance - television replays showed however he seemed to have won the ball.