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Manchester United Boss Alex Ferguson's FA Punishment Slammed By Referees' Union

FA should have thrown the book at Fergie, according to men in black…

Nov 13, 2009 3:30:05 PM

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is left to contemplate a shock defeat at the hands of Burnley

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is left to contemplate a shock defeat at the hands of Burnley

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's punishment for criticising Alan Wiley's fitness has been blasted as being inadequate by the referees' union Prospect.

Ferguson was handed a four-match ban (two games of which are suspended until the end of the 2010-11 season) and fined £20,000 for his outburst in the wake of his team's 2-2 draw at home against Sunderland last month.

But the sanction does not fit with the gravity of the offence, according to Alan Leighton, Prospect's national secretary.

"From our point of view it is disappointing," Leighton said, according to The Guardian.

"The Football Association had a chance to make a point and they flunked it. To question the fitness of a referee is to question his ability to do the job and his integrity.

"We don't think this is sending the right message to other managers. This is not a personal vendetta against Sir Alex but he has a particular stature within the game and, if he is seen to be getting off lightly, other managers may think what he said was not beyond the pale.

"What is interesting is the commission thought the comments were not just improper but were grossly improper and wholly inappropriate."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com UK