Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been
suspended for five matches and handed a £30,000 fine following
comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson earlier this
month.
The FA imposed sanctions will commence on March 22 and mean
Ferguson will be confined to the stands for the FA Cup
semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley as well as
Premier League clashes with West Ham, Fulham, Everton and,
most crucially, away at Arsenal.
Premier League leaders United are just three points ahead of the
Gunners, who have a game in hand.
The FA were unhappy with comments Ferguson made following a
controversial 2-1 defeat at Chelsea, when the United boss said he
had "feared the worst" when Atkinson was appointed match official
for the Premier League clash on March 1, adding: "You want a fair
referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that."
An FA statement read: "At an
Independent Regulatory Commission today (Wednesday) Sir Alex
Ferguson was handed a touchline suspension for three matches and
fined a total of £30,000. The Commission found the charge of
Improper Conduct relating to media comments proven, following
remarks made in relation to match official Martin Atkinson in
post-match interviews after Manchester United's fixture with
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday 1 March 2011. Furthermore the
Commission invoked a two match suspended touchline ban, relating to
a previous charge of Improper Conduct in relation to media comments
made in October 2009. Therefore Sir Alex Ferguson was ordered to a
serve a five match touchline ban commencing on Tuesday 22 March
2011."
The United boss was angry over Atkinson's failure to dismiss
Chelsea defender David
Luiz for fouls on
Javier Hernandez and Wayne
Rooney at Stamford Bridge after he had already been booked.
He was further upset when Chelsea were awarded what he
considered a "soft" winning penalty when Yuri
Zhirkov took a tumble under a challenge from United centre-back
Chris
Smalling.
This is the fifth time in five years that Ferguson has been
charged because of comments either to or about a referee.