ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ALEX FERGUSON has been charged with improper conduct by the English Football Association for his remarks about referee Alan Wiley's fitness.
And a bad day for the Manchester United manager was made worse as he embarked for Russia and tomorrow’s Champions League match against CSKA Moscow without five first-team players.
Ferguson, who drew widespread criticism for questioning Wiley’s fitness in the wake of United’s 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland, is without the injured Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-sung and Darren Fletcher for tomorrow night’s Group B match at the Luzhniki Stadium, the scene of the club’s 2008 European Cup triumph over Chelsea.
Ferguson faces a touchline ban should he be found guilty of improper conduct. A fine is another possible censure. He has two weeks to respond and may request a personal hearing to make his case against the charges.
Following United’s injury-time equaliser against Steve Bruce’s side the manager rounded on the 49-year-old Wiley and what he perceived to be his lack of fitness.
“The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit,” he said in an interview. “You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”
Ferguson later said he was sorry for any “personal embarrassment” he may have caused Wiley before saying his aim was to draw attention to the wider problem of fitness levels among officials.
Ferguson’s apology was dismissed as “half-hearted” by the head of the referees’ union, Alan Leighton, who said the United manager’s attempts at explaining his remarks “exacerbates the position rather than resolves it”.
Guardian Service
