Fergie banned

his comments about referee Martin Atkinson.
The Manchester United manager was found guilty of improper conduct for criticising Atkin-son’s display in the loss at Chelsea earlier this month.
Ferguson has yet to decide if he will appeal but said: “It is disappointing.
“It is the only industry where you can’t tell the truth. But it is in the past now.”
Asked whether he will contest the charges, he said: “I’ve not made my mind up about that yet.”
Ferguson had told MUTV after the Chelsea game: “You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway – and we didn’t get that.”
The Scot’s ban starts on March 22 and includes the FA Cup tie against Manchester City.
The Independent Regulatory Commission’s sanction comprises a three-game ban for the Atkinson remarks and the activation of a two-game suspended ban that Ferguson earned last season for saying referee Alan Wiley was not “fit enough” to keep up with play.
The three-man panel also fined the 69-year-old manager £30 000.
Should he accept the punishment, the Old Trafford boss will have to watch the English Premier League games against West Ham, Fulham, Everton and Arsenal from the stands, as well as the semi-final against local rivals City at Wembley.
His outburst about Atkinson followed a hard-fought contest at Stamford Bridge which saw United score first but lose to second-half goals from David Luiz and Frank Lampard, the latter coming from the penalty spot.
Ferguson was furious that Luiz had not been sent off for fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney after the Brazilian defender had already been booked. He was also angry about the decision to award Chelsea a penalty when Yuri Zhirkov fell under Chris Smalling’s challenge. The veteran manager may consider himself a little unlucky about the severity of the punishment as he did temper his remarks in the MUTV interview by changing his initial comment about wanting a “fair referee” to the less contentious “strong referee”. – BBC Sport.