Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was today fined €8,000 by UEFA for his remarks suggesting the Champions League quarter-finals draw may have been fixed.
Ferguson made his comments before the first leg of United's quarter-final against Real Madrid, although he later apologised for them.
He inferred some people in the game were determined to stop United reaching next month's final at their own Old Trafford ground and had given them the toughest possible draw in the last eight. The United manager also queried the fact that none of the three Spanish teams faced a club from the same country, nor any of the three Italian teams.
He said: "Real Madrid - they have a nice draw, they must have picked it themselves. The Spanish or Italian teams don't play each other, how do you think they work that out? They don't want us in the final, that's for sure, but I'm not listening."
However, he later admitted: "I have been assured by UEFA that the draw was fair. I take their word for it, so I was wrong to say what I did."
However, the admission did not prevent UEFA charged him with bringing the game into disrepute.
There was further bad news for Ferguson when it emerged Gary Neville will miss the final two matches of Manchester United's Premiership campaign because of injury.
The United defender is facing surgery after suffering further "discomfort" from the foot injury which wrecked his chances of appearing in the World Cup finals.
The 28-year-old, who has not started a league game for United since the 4-0 win over Liverpool at the beginning of April, will undergo surgery to remove a screw originally inserted into his foot during an operation last summer and will be out for between two and three months.
"Gary will undergo surgery today after experiencing discomfort in his left foot," read a United statement this afternoon. "He will be back with Manchester United for pre-season training."