Sir Alex Ferguson clashed with match officials on Boxing Day (Guardian.co.uk)
The English FA confirmed that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not face disciplinary action following a halftime clash with match officials during United's 4-3 win over Newcastle on Boxing Day. In the 28th minute Newcastle appeared to have tallied their second goal of the match on a Jonny Evans own goal. Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse was in the area, and in an offside position. The assistant referee ruled the goal out by raising the offside flag, but head referee Mike Dean overruled his assistant, allowing the own goal to stand on the interpretation that Cisse, while he was in an offside position, did not interfere with play.
Sir Alex was furious and animatedly approached Dean as the sides headed to the locker rooms for halftime. Not getting what he wanted from Dean, Ferguson then rounded on the fourth official and confronted the linesman as well.
In their statement on the matter, the FA said that they were declining to pursue action against the United manager because referee Dean did not mention the incident in his match report. The Premier League did, however, backup Dean's interpretation of the rules and events by stating: "as Cisse did not play the ball, then he was not interfering with play. It is also the case that Cisse didn't interfere with the opponent."
United ended up winning the match 4-3 after a 90th minute goal from Javier Hernandez. The win, coupled with Manchester City's 1-0 loss to Sunderland, increased their lead at the top of the EPL to 7 points. However, perhaps Sir Alex should be more concerned with his poor goal-keeping prospects and Swiss cheese defense than referee's decisions.
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