New Delhi: The Football Association's independent chairman, Lord Triesman, has responded to the grumblings of discontent emanating from Old Trafford in the the wake of the inquiry into Patrice Evra's Stamford Bridge brawl.
Following accusations by Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville and Patrice Evra of an anti-Manchester United agenda at the Football Association, Lord Triesman, the organisation's independent chairman, has spoken in its defence.
The controversy follows in the wake of the FA's awarding of a four game ban to United's defender Patrice Evra after the player was involved in a punch-up with a member of the Chelsea ground staff during his warm-down after the game at Stamford Bridge in April.
As well as the ban, the FA also published the details of the inquiry on its website, and was highly critical of the behaviour of Evra specifically and United in general, highlighting several instances where the club's actions were unacceptable, such as the fact that they changed their story three times.
Triesman has moved quickly to justify the inquiry's findings though, and insists that such transparency in the FA's disciplinary dealings will now become the norm.
"I think United are upset, without any question," Triesman said.
"They didn’t like the outcome and they are not mad about the process. They have said that they didn’t have notice of it coming out that way and I think they should have had notice of that, actually. But there have been other cases reported on the website and I have been saying for a while that everybody is entitled to know the reasons for a decision. Obviously the higher profile the club, the more difficult a relationship can be, but I would want to avoid that."
"I have got absolutely no sense from anybody inside Soho Square that anybody has got it in for Manchester United. David Gill (the United chief executive) is held in huge esteem. "
Triesman went on to highlight that, contrary to what the Scotsman himself believes, Alex Ferguson enjoys the utmost respect of the FA.
"Alex may on occasions find himself in the disciplinary spotlight, but he is an extraordinary manager and a genuinely remarkable man in all sorts of other ways," Triesman added.
Gary Neville had criticised the make-up of the four man panel that conducted the inquiry, highlighting a lack of football professionals. Only David Pleat, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, had a professional football background in a group consisting of two FA councillors and a QC (lawyer) in addition to Pleat.
Triesman, however, thinks that that argument holds little water in a case that occurred after the game and not during it.
"Most of the arguments for having people involved in the professional game is that they understand the high-speed clashes on a football field in a way that people who have not played or refereed at that pace don’t really understand," Triesman said.
"But this incident didn’t happen during a football game. It might have happened in the street. The idea that people couldn’t read off something that was happening in a warm-down doesn’t seem persuasive to me."
Evra is set to miss the next four domestic matches, beginning with United's tough away trip to Stoke City on Boxing Day, as the Red Devils look to build on their victory in the Club World Cup.
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