The Football Association has backed Wayne Rooney's decision not to apologise for the incident that led to his sending off during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat against Portugal.

Rooney was dismissed for violent conduct after appearing to trample on Ricardo Carvalho and will discover on Thursday how long he will be banned for.

The 20-year-old could be suspended for up to five matches, but FIFA's disciplinary committee is usually more lenient if the player involved sends a written apology.

However, Rooney insists he has nothing to say sorry for as the incident was unintentional and FA officials have sent a letter to FIFA supporting his version of events.

FA director of communications Adrian Bevington said: "Wayne has already made clear publicly he did not have any intention of making contact with Ricardo Carvalho.

"It is also worth noting that we believe there were one or two potential fouls against Wayne during the same move."

The decision is a major risk as new England coach Steve McClaren can ill afford to lose Rooney to a long ban, as a knee injury will prevent Michael Owen playing in the first three Euro 2008 qualifiers.