• Premier League

Ferguson's comments 'damage' game - Leighton

ESPN staff
March 3, 2011
Sir Alex Ferguson was far from happy with Martin Atkinson © Getty Images
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Alan Leighton, national secretary of the trade union that represents referees, has claimed Sir Alex Ferguson's controversial statement following Manchester United's defeat to Chelsea "causes great damage to the game".

Ferguson saw his side slip to a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge and he was unhappy about a number of decisions, notably the penalty that led to Frank Lampard firing home the winner.

"You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that," Ferguson said. "I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst."

Ferguson could face FA action and Leighton, the national secretary of Prospect, feels the Scot would be best served by retracting his comments.

"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," Leighton said. "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."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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