MUNICH, (AFP) - Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted Tuesday that playmaker Franck Ribery had been hit hard by the failed appeal that has ruled him out of the Champions League final.
Bayern face Inter Milan at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Saturday with each side looking to lift the trophy that would secure a treble, both having won their domestic league and cup competitions.
Ribery was handed a three-match ban by European football's governing body UEFA after being red carded for a nasty tackle on Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez during their semi-final first leg in April.
The Frenchman had already served one match of his ban by being sidelined from the second leg in Lyon, but a Bayern appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the ban reduced was rejected on Monday.
Rummenigge admitted Bayern could suffer from losing such a "player of quality" for the final, their first since 2001 when they beat Spanish club Valencia in a penalty shoot-out.
But he tried to lift the spirits of the French international by promising it would not be Bayern's last bid for European club football's biggest trophy.
"Franck was very disappointed with the ruling and also sad that he's not going to be playing the final," Rummenigge told reporters Tuesday.
"I understand his disappointment and his distress but I'm sure it won't be the last time we contend the Champions League final. Next time, he'll be there and on the pitch to help us win it."
In a statement Monday sport's top court said: "The CAS Panel has dismissed the appeal and confirmed the three-game suspension imposed by the UEFA Appeals Body on the Bayern Munich player Franck Ribery.
"Accordingly, the player will not be eligible to play in the final of the 2010 Champions League."
