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A new height of ridiculousness from the dear old FA.
[color="Blue"]The Football Association is facing yet more scorn and ridicule after it emerged Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz were acquitted on charges of improper conduct due to an administrative typo. Incredibly, the governing body is now considering whether to appeal against its own verdict.
Despite Ferguson describing referee Martin Atkinson as being on Portsmouth's "side" and Queiroz branding him a "robber" in a televised interview, the Manchester United management duo were yesterday cleared of all charges, leaving the FA's 'Respect For Refs' campaign in tatters.
According to reports, 'Three TV clips were shown to the FA panel, two by Ferguson to Sky and MUTV and a third by Queiroz to the BBC.
'The FA argued Queiroz had called Atkinson "a robber" and transcribed his interview as saying "that is my opinion of this robber today". However, United's defence, led by former FA compliance officer Graham Bean, showed in the tape that Queiroz actually said, "that is my opinion of his job today".'
With their evidence thus discredited, the panel judged the charges made against Ferguson and Queiroz as 'not proved'.
Strangely, the FA only sought to punish Ferguson for his remarks against Keith Hackett, the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials - suggesting that they are content for managers to describe referees as being on the "side" of the opposition. That Ferguson also described Atkinson's work as "ridiculous" and implied that he deserved to be "sacked" having not awarded United a first-half penalty was also apparently deemed acceptable by FA officials.
"This wasn't a case of United claiming the referee was biased," Bean told reporters as he departed Soho Square. "The FA claimed they questioned the integrity of the ref and Keith Hackett but that was not the case. Sir Alex and Carlos did not say the ref wasn't being honest but he was inconsistent."
Instead of conducting an internal inquiry into how they managed to bungle the case so spectacularly, the FA are instead predicted to launch an appeal against the panel they commissioned - presumably at great expense - to preside over proceedings.
'The FA's licence to appeal was written into the governing body's rules only last summer and this will be the first time they have exercised their new right. Only when the independent commission's reasoning arrives in the next 48 hours will the FA decide whether to appeal, but there is clearly deep frustration within Soho Square at the Manchester United manager and his assistant escaping sanction,' reports The Daily Telegraph. 'If the FA do seek to take the issue further, it will be heard by an appeal board chaired by a QC appointed by the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel, an independent body. Two members of the FA Council will be on the appeal board.'
"We are both surprised and disappointed by the result," confirmed a spokesman for the discredited governing body last night.
Sadly, while such 'disappointment' may be widespread, the FA's latest failure to function proficiently is far from a surprise. [/color]
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[color="Red"]Keeper of the heretic's fork of doom [/color]
These are the cries of the carrots.
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