Wed Apr 2 14:04:24 2008

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United's Ferguson, Queiroz hit with FA charges

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Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Sir Alex Ferguson and assistant Carlos Queiroz have been charged with improper conduct following their criticisms of refereeing standards, following Manchester United's FA Cup exit last month.

Ferguson and later Queiroz slammed the performance of match referee Martin Atkinson following United's 1-0 sixth-round defeat to Portsmouth at Old Trafford on March 8.

United were denied a first-half penalty when Cristiano Ronaldo went down in the box under a challenge from Sylvain Distin and they also saw goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak sent off in the second half.

After the match the veteran Scot also rounded on professional game match officials board chief Keith Hackett and accused the referees' boss of favoritism in his choice of officials.

The Football Association initially wrote to both Ferguson and Queiroz seeking an explanation of their comments before issuing charges.

"Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and assistant manager Carlos Queiroz have both been charged with improper conduct," read an FA statement.

"Ferguson's charge concerns comments about referee Martin Atkinson and PGMO general manager Keith Hackett.

"Queiroz's charge relates to comments about referee Martin Atkinson. Both parties have until April 17 to respond to the charge."

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)