Sir Alex Ferguson(credit:
Wikipedia)
Sir Alex Ferguson should apologise for his comments regarding referee Martin Atkinson, according to the match officials’ union.
The Manchester United boss was unhappy with Atkinson’s display in the league leaders’ 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in midweek and later claimed he had “feared the worst” when he learned the official would be in charge of the clash at Stamford Bridge.
The 69-year-old Scot then, in the same interview with MUTV, went on to say “you want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway – and we didn’t get that”.
Ferguson is now facing a possible improper conduct charge from the Football Association and Alan Leighton, the national secretary for referees’ trade union Prospect, believes the United manager should apologise and retract his comments.
Leighton said: “The idea you can have referees who are biased towards one side or another, at any level, is one that causes great damage to the game.
“Referees will make mistakes but they make them because they are human beings. It is absolutely fair for managers to say referees make mistakes.
“If any referee couldn't accept that they wouldn't have got past park football.
“But where the dividing line between legitimate and illegitimate criticism comes is when you start to question the integrity of the officials or say they are not fit to do their job, either physically or because they are biased.
“By saying they didn't have a fair referee, Sir Alex Ferguson is saying that Martin Atkinson was favouring one team or another.
“If you start to let those comments go, it is not far beyond for other managers to think they can also query the fairness of referees.
“If Sir Alex didn't mean that it would be very simple for him to say so and it would clear the issue up.
“The sensible thing to move this on would be an apology.”