ARSENE WENGER yesterday called on the English FA to punish Neil Ruddock for the alleged provocation that prompted Patrick Vieira to spit at the West Ham player after being sent off at Upton Park.

The Arsenal manager described Ruddock's behaviour as "shocking" and said he would present the FA with video evidence of the defender's actions when Vieira answers a misconduct charge.

"When I saw Ruddock in the newspapers saying: `I was just playing the nice guy, I just came over to calm things down' and you see on TV what he has done it is quite shocking. What he did after shocked me more than what he did on the field because he just thinks people are stupid."

After Vieira was dismissed for a second booking Ruddock appeared to bodycheck him. The Arsenal midfielder claims he was physically and verbally provoked throughout, starting with a push from Ruddock at the first corner, whom he says called him a "French prat". Vieira can expect a lengthy suspension, and no one at Highbury disputes his guilt.

David Beckham has pledged his future to Manchester United, claiming his pop star wife Victoria Adams is happy for him to play for the Treble winners and that she has not told him to quit United because she is unhappy living in Manchester.

He said: "I've never talked about leaving. Neither me nor Victoria have talked about leaving Manchester or United. She loves the people up here and she loves going to watch me play games. I want people to know that she loves watching me play."