I'm paying the price for telling the truth, says Ferguson

11 April 2012

Sir Alex Ferguson today blasted the Football Association's decision to hand him a

The FA invoked a two-game suspended ban after a previous outburst at referee Alan Wiley and hit the Scot with a further three matches on the sidelines and a £30,000 fine for the comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson following Manchester United's 2-1 defeat against Chelsea two weeks ago.

Ferguson inferred Atkinson should not have been appointed in the first place because the importance of the match needed "a fair referee".

He has yet to decide whether he will appeal but, as it stands, Ferguson will be missing from the dug-out for four key games in the title race, including the match against closest challengers Arsenal on May 1 at Emirates Stadium as well as the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley.

Ferguson said: "It was disappointing. It's the only industry you can't tell the truth in. I have not made my mind up about that [whether to appeal]."

United suffered a further blow with the news that Rio Ferdinand could miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.

Ferdinand has been out since he suffered the problem in the warm-up before United's clash with Wolves on February 5 and his fitness problems have left England coach Fabio Capello ready to replace him as captain with former skipper John Terry.

Ferguson said: "I'm not getting involved in that [the England captaincy]. My concern is getting him back for the end of the season.

"Rio has been out for a few weeks and it is not a short-term situation. He has not started training yet and it looks to me like we'll be lucky to get him back for some part of the season. Sometimes a calf injury can be trouble. I remember Bryan Robson being out for four months with a calf injury and it is looking that way again with Rio."

John O'Shea and Rafael have added to the defensive crisis having been ruled out for five and three weeks respectively with hamstring problems.

Captain Nemanja Vidic will return after the international break but Ferguson admits it is a cause for concern. He said: "We've been okay in the defensive part but suddenly it has fallen apart."

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