David Moyes fined £8,000 over referee comments

The Manchester United manager has also been warned about his conduct

Martyn Ziegler
Friday 17 January 2014 16:26 GMT
Comments
Manchester United manager David Moyes looks on in downbeat fashion during his club's 2-1 defeat by Swansea
Manchester United manager David Moyes looks on in downbeat fashion during his club's 2-1 defeat by Swansea (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester United manager David Moyes has been fined £8,000 and warned about his conduct after his comments about match officials following the defeat by Sunderland in the Capital One Cup.

The sanction, the same as handed out to Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers for his criticism of referees, comes after Moyes said United were "playing referees as well as the opposition" following his side's third defeat in a row.

An FA independent regulatory commission imposed the punishment on Friday.

An FA statement read: "Manchester United manager David Moyes has been fined £8,000 and warned as to his future conduct following an independent regulatory commission hearing today.

"Moyes had admitted an FA misconduct charge in that his post-match comments following his side's game at Sunderland on Tuesday January 7 constituted improper conduct in that they called into question the integrity of the match officials appointed to that fixture and/or appointed to Manchester United fixtures generally, and/or implied that such match officials are motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute, in contravention of FA Rule E3(1)."

Moyes issued his criticism after questioning the awarding of a free-kick that led to Sunderland's opening goal and the later award of the match-winning penalty.

He said: "I feel we are having to play the opposition and the referees. We are all just laughing at them at the minute."

The incident followed the United manager saying it was "scandalous" his side were not awarded a late penalty against Tottenham at Old Trafford last month.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in