Ferguson declined to fight a misconduct charge brought by the FA over his use of 'insulting words' to referee Mark Clattenburg following the half-time whistle at United's recent Barclays Premier League encounter with Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
Clattenburg sent Ferguson to the stands for the second period following the United manager's finger-jabbing rant and with a 14-day notice period, the Scot will not be present in the Red Devils dug-out for the trip to West Ham on December 29 or the home encounter with Birmingham on New Year's Day, 24 hours after he celebrates his 66th birthday.
An FA statement said: “At a Regulatory Commission hearing yesterday, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was given a two-match touchline ban, starting on Friday 28 December. He was also fined £5,000.
“Ferguson admitted a charge of using abusive and/or insulting words towards referee Mark Clattenburg at half-time of United’s game against Bolton on Saturday 24 November.
“As he did not request a personal hearing, the case was dealt with on the basis of written statements and video footage.”
The United manager, whose last major altercation with officialdom was at St James’ Park four years ago when he was also banned for two games but fined £10,000 for a stinging attack on Jeff Winter, was deeply unhappy at Clattenburg’s failure to stamp out Bolton’s ’over-aggressive’ tactics.
One tackle by Kevin Davies on Patrice Evra particularly incensed the Scot, who approached Clattenburg as he was about to enter the tunnel ’to tell him exactly what I thought’.
“Some people don’t like the truth,” added the Scot.
“You expect a team in Bolton’s position to battle, scrap and fight. But the key thing is how the referee controls it. That is where we feel a bit aggrieved.” Tweet
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So the FA (Favouring Arsenal) have given Sir Alex a two match ban for letting Mr. Clattenberg know he was too soft with Bolton's heavy tackles. Maybe AF deserved it or maybe not as we all know that both Mourinho and Wenger in the past have come out with similar comments on match officials and FA officials. There are other managers who say what they feel from time to time and since we live in a world where freedom of speech is suppose to be a right, I do not exactly understand why all the fuss from the FA. This brings me to Eboue's lashing out with his arm at Boro. Has anyone heard anything whether the FA are doing anything about it since the match official decided to ignore it completely. I know comparisons are odious, but last season at Anfield Scholes was sent off for swinging an arm but not making contact, and the same can be said for Ronaldo against Pompey this season. Both players got 3 match suspensions. Now can anybody differ from my opinion when I say that certain players from certain clubs get away with murder whilst others are made to pay for minor incidents. Arsenal had another player who almost always got away with such behaviour, Lauren. So do your job Messrs. FA and show Eboue the red card for three matches please and do not continue ridiculing yourself more than you've already done.