English FA investigate Ferguson and Allardyce´s rants

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce are being investigated by the English FA after their controversial comments about refereeing in their team’s matches at the weekend.

Ferguson questioned Alan Wiley’s fitness after Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland, while Allardyce criticised Peter Walton for not giving a penalty for Thomas Vermaelen’s apparent trip on David Dunn in Blackburn’s 6-2 defeat at Arsenal.

A spokesman for the FA said: “We are reviewing the comments in their full context.”

Ferguson said after the draw at Old Trafford that 49-year-old Wiley was struggling to keep up with the match.

“I was disappointed with the referee,” Ferguson said. “He was not fit enough for a game of that standard.

“The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It is an indictment of our game.

“You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn’t fit.

“He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”

Allardyce hinted that Walton wasn’t good enough to referee in the top flight after turning down a Rovers penalty claim at the Emirates Stadium.

“I don’t want to detract from Arsenal but it was a blatant penalty,” Allardyce said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the position of the referee was excellent. He just didn’t, unfortunately, give the decision in our favour.

“It is human beings in a very big pressure position. In the big pressure pot that is this league, you have got to get the major decisions right otherwise you don’t stay in this league too long, not as a manager or a player, so as a referee you have got to be judged the same.

“They are fully professional now so if they are not good enough, we should find someone who is.”