An unrepentant Sir Alex Ferguson will tell a Football Association disciplinary hearing today that he was right to criticise the fitness of referees.
The Manchester United manager is to appear before a four-man panel of the FA’s independent regulatory commission at Wembley to answer a charge of improper conduct relating to his outspoken attack on Alan Wiley last month.
Ferguson was condemned by senior referees’ officials and threatened with legal action when he claimed that Wiley “just wasn’t fit enough” and “needed a rest” after United’s 2-2 draw against Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 3, even though official ProZone statistics suggested otherwise.
But while Ferguson regrets the personal nature of the attack and will point out that he has made two apologies to Wiley, he stands by his wider message that referees’ fitness must improve and will make that point clear during his personal hearing.
He will also reiterate that he believes that the Premier League must act to ensure that the fitness levels of officials are addressed in the best interests of the game by making physical tests more taxing.
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Ferguson is hoping to escape with a fine and a suspended touchline ban, although it remains to be seen if the FA decides to make an example of him, given the outpouring of anger that greeted his remarks.
The governing body would have to break with convention for Ferguson to be given a touchline ban because, traditionally, it issues suspensions only when a manager has been guilty of acting inappropriately on the touchline or pitch, but not for comments made in post-match interviews.
There is not thought to be a precedent of a manager receiving a touchline ban relating to remarks he has made to the media, although it is feasible that Ferguson could become the first.
The Scot has been at war with the refereeing fraternity in recent weeks. As well as his attack on Wiley, he questioned whether Andre Marriner had the experience to referee a Liverpool- United fixture after the match at Anfield almost three weeks ago.
He also tore into Martin Atkinson after United’s 1-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, accusing the referee of being in an “absolutely ridiculous” position when he awarded Carlo Ancelotti’s team a controversial free kick from which they scored the only goal and suggesting that his players were starting to lose faith in referees.
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Ferguson, though, believes that there has been a witch-hunt against him by the media and figures from the refereeing world, and has questioned privately whether he will receive a fair hearing.
In addition to issuing an apology through the United website, he wrote to the FA to explain his comments further and believes that those factors should be taken into consideration.
Alan Leighton, the head of Prospect, the referees’ union, has been particularly critical of Ferguson, branding as “half-hearted” the public apology and suggesting it exacerbated the situation because Ferguson “widened” his attack “to question the fitness of other referees in the select group”.
Leighton has said that Wiley, with Prospect’s support, could sue Ferguson for libel if the FA’s punishment is deemed insufficient. They feel the outburst unfairly and unnecessarily undermined the credibility of one of its most experienced and respected members, not to mention the FA’s Respect campaign.
Ferguson tried to explain the basis for his attack on Wiley when he said in his initial apology: “My only intention in speaking publicly was to highlight what I believe to be a serious and important issue in the game, namely that the fitness levels of referees must match the ever-increasing demands of the modern game, which I hope will now be properly addressed through the appropriate formal channels.”