Sir Alex : I'm banned for telling the truth!
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Sir Alex Ferguson has been handed a five-match touchline ban that will see him forced to watch United's FA Cup semi final with City from the stands.
He could also miss the Premier League title showdown with Arsenal on May 1.
Furthermore the United manager was fined £30,000 for comments made about referee Martin Atkinson following the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the start of the month.
An Independent Regulatory Commission found Ferguson guilty of inproper conduct and also invoked a two-match suspended ban for previous comments made in 2009.
Ferguson can appeal the decision, but is facing up to the likelihood that he will be banished to the stands for two of the most crucial fixtures of United's season.
He was furious with Atkinson for not showing a red card to Chelsea defender David Luiz after fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney.
He said: "You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that. I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst."
Ferguson suffered wrath of referees in October 2009 when publicly criticising Alan Wiley after United's 2-2 draw with Sunderland.
"He was not fit enough for a game of that standard," he said at the time. "The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. "
For that outburst he received a two-match touchline ban, was fined £20,000, with a further two-match ban suspened.
That has been invoked by his latest charge.
He will be given 48 hours from tomorrow to appeal, meaning any sanction will not start until after Saturday's Premier League encounter with Bolton.
Should the verdict be upheld he will miss all of April's domestic games, including the semi-final with City at Wembley, and potentially the trip to Arsenal on May 1.
That could yet change if a visit to Newcastle, postponed due to that City clash, is re-arranged for the midweek immediately after the semi.
Ferguson will host a press conference tomorrow, but as recently as Saturday he was bullish about the battle that lay ahead.
"I now face an FA charge for what, to my mind, was simply telling the truth," he said in his programme notes. "I will be defending myself strongly when my FA appeal hearing comes up.
"In fact, I am looking forward to the challenge because, to my mind, I have not said anything out of place, however much the media urge the FA to take action.
"The papers keep on and on about it because Manchester United are involved, and they failed to get the FA compliance unit to pick up on the Wayne Rooney incident in the Wigan game.
"I won't be on the back foot when I put my case to the FA, though.
"I don't think sticking up for my team makes me a villain, especially when you consider that Manchester United have one of the best disciplinary records in the country." -
it seems what Rooney escaped, all comes back together..
April fools joke, nope, SAF is not going to be there in dugout in april.
Perhaps he can do what Jose/Steve Clark did, buy/use a big big hat...
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I'm banned for telling the truth! Fergie fumes over punishment but undecided over appeal
　
　
Controversy: Ferguson felt David Luiz (right) was lucky not to be sent off
　
　
Sir Alex Ferguson has hit out after being handed a five-match touchline ban by the FA, saying that football is 'the only industry where you can't tell the truth'.
Ferguson learned of his punishment after a disciplinary hearing for comments made about referee Martin Atkinson following
Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Chelseaearlier this month.
The
Old Trafford boss is clearly not happy but is yet to decide whether to appeal against his punishment. But he has vowed to defend himself strongly and the outcome was clearly a shock.
'It is disappointing,' he said. 'It is the only industry where you can't tell the truth. But it is in the past now.'
The FA got tough with Ferguson on Wednesday, hitting him with the ban and £30,000 fine for criticising Atkinson.
The punishment is a blow to United's Treble hopes, because Ferguson will be banished to the stands for four Barclays Premier League games and the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
The Old Trafford boss is now weighing up his options over an appeal. However, he knows that is a gamble as, if he loses, he will be banned for an extra match - the potential title decider with Arsenal on Sunday, May 1.
There was no escape as Ferguson was handed the heaviest punishment of his career after criticising Atkinson over not giving Chelsea's David Luiz a second yellow for fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney as United lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on March 1.
Ferguson said: 'You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway, and we didn't get that. I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared the worst.'
United will receive the judgment today and have until Monday to appeal.
The ban is due to begin on Tuesday, but if Ferguson accepts the commission's decision before tomorrow, the suspension could start with Saturday's home game against Bolton.
It would then take in Premier League games against West Ham, Fulham and Everton, and the Wembley clash with City, allowing him to return to the dug-out to face Arsenal and Chelsea.
If he loses an appeal, another loophole that could see him back for the visit to the Emirates is a re-arranged match with Newcastle on April 19 or 20. It is doubtful a challenge would be deemed frivolous and deserving of an additional ban, but it could waste valuable time.
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FA has let Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson off lightly with five-match touchline ban
For those Manchester United fans complaining that Sir Alex Ferguson did not deserve to be punished for his comments about Martin Atkinson, well he hasn’t really. Unlike Uefa’s version, the Football Association’s touchline ban is not even a proper spell on the naughty step.
FERGUSON ... upset with the FA　.
Five games appears a lengthy stint but FA restrictions are actually few. This is not purdah.
Ferguson can address his players before kick-off. He will not need to be smuggled into the United dressing room at half-time in a laundry basket or disguised as Fred the Red.
Ferguson can walk from his seat in the directors’ box, wander through the stand, a free man. He can enter the tunnel area, stroll into United’s lair, deliver his usual interval talk and administer any tactical tweaks.
Uefa’s touchline ban is far more stringent, exiling the manager from his players.
When news broke on Wednesday of Ferguson’s five-game ban, effectively three plus the suspended two for questioning Alan Wiley’s fitness in 2009, there were a few oohs and aahs, even glowing commendations of the FA’s apparent toughness.
At last, and not before time, it seemed the authorities were clamping down on the sort of serial dissent and post-match derision from managers such as Ferguson that makes some referees consider taking up a less stressful occupation, like lion-taming.
The FA’s intentions are admirable enough: to protect referees by removing the miscreant manager from the officials’ working environment. The blazers want to minimise Ferguson’s contact with officials but not stop him working with his players.
So Ferguson cannot set foot in the technical area. Yet he can bump into referees in the tunnel before the game, at half-time and afterwards.
According to the FA, the onus of responsibility is on Ferguson not to interact with officials. Self-policing in modern football. Ambitious.
This is not a proper punishment for Ferguson; this is a minor re-jigging of his match-day seating arrangements.
As for that £30,000 fine, which incredibly the FA believes is a strong one, it will never be a deterrent to a multi-millionaire such as Ferguson.
If the FA seriously wanted to tackle outbursts it considered damaging to the integrity of referees then it would ban the manager from the stadium on matchday. That would have an impact on the manager’s ability to manage.
For a second offence by the manager (with the same club) the FA should deduct a point. But it won’t because the Premier League is too powerful, and club lawyers too sharp.
So are United harmed? Not really. The FA has unwittingly given Ferguson and United a cause.
The Scot is the master at circling the wagons, and he will be using this FA sanction to stoke United’s fire even more.
Always beware a team driven by a sense of injustice. Ferguson will drive them hard.
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"Always beware a team driven by a sense of injustice. Ferguson will drive them hard." <<- the ammunition to get the treble??