Thursday, March 29, 2012

Ferguson rejects Vieira ref claim

Sir Alex Ferguson has waded into the row with Manchester City over whether they get favourable treatment from referees by insisting decisions even themselves out over the course of the season.

Former Arsenal star Patrick Vieira, now City's Football Development Executive, appeared to claim on Wednesday that United get preferential treatment from referees in the light of Fulham failing to get a late spot-kick at Old Trafford on Monday when Danny Murphy looked to have been tripped by Michael Carrick in United's 1-0 win. Fans of football betting tips will have seen the incident.

Vieira says his comments were taken out of context and is unhappy with the way the interview has been reported but Ferguson, speaking at his weekly press conference, was asked about the comments and rejected Vieira's apparent claim.

"Every club gets breaks here and there, you get good ones and bad ones," he said. "It evens itself out over the season, that will never change. City could have had a penalty against them at Stoke for a foul by Gareth Barry."

On the contentious penalty incident against Fulham, Ferguson also defended referee Michael Oliver's decision not to give the Cottagers the chance to equalise late on Monday and even people who follow the League Two betting will know this sort of thing happens at all levels.

He added: "From the referee's position, I can see why he didn't give a penalty when Danny Murphy was brought down.

"It was a good claim. The ball moved to the angle as Michael Carrick challenged him. From that position, it wasn't clear."

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