I`ve always held the view that the FA is totally unrepesentative of our national game. The sooner the government forces a overhaul of this governing body the better. My view is that the FA should look after the international game only and let those with more experience and ability run and patrol the local game.

Speaking as a blue it is strange to find myself agreeing with his Lordship, however on this occasion he is right. Ben Haim should be banned.

cue;tragedy -bee gees

I agree with you in the main Sal but would not trust the FA to run anything

Rooney raised his hand HENCE an FA charge,its as straightforward as that OK? SAF needs to be careful what he says because these comments he is making may interest the authorities at Soho Square. Finally Rooney needs to be taught a lesson or two ( 3-4-5) in how to behave on and off the pitch otherwise his potential will disappear down the pan,personally Im not really interested in him Im just glad SWP and BWP show great professionalism unlike Rooney.

Simon correct me if I wrong i think Barton has just been fined six weeks wages! also things are different today.I once saw Dennis Tweart head butt an aposing player leaving him with a broken nose and two black eyes.That is violent behaviour not a push that would not have even pushed a baby over.

I agree with SAF in that if Haim had to feign injury, then Rooney's push can't have been violent. If he was really injured, then it must have been violent; so they can charge either Rooney or Haim, not both.
It's an unfortunate fact of life for Rooney and all other United players that they will be scrutinised to a far greater degree than any other players, and so they have to have incredible control otherwise they will be hung and quartered in the press who like nothing better than to stir things up. Rooney is just a young lad and has only been a United player for a few months. Hopefully he will learn from this.

Fergie has a point!! The FA are a constant joke!! Palios anyone?

What have SWP and BWP got to do with this?? Well if you wanna talk about an unprofessional player then Anelka doesn't need any explaining!

Wayne Rooney deserves to be banned for deliberately pushing
the face of the oponent with his open hand,even if the oponent over reacted. It is a red card offence, no matter who it is or what team he plays for. I think Alex Ferguson is wrong and should admit it.

It is a disgrace. Far worse things go on that what Rooney did on a match day. If it had been an Arse player would anything of happen? no way.

S johnson's comments are pathetic to say the least. What does he expects - SAF to shut his mouth when seeing another injustice against a UTd player.

Simon, Simon if your not interested, why are you wasting your time posting comments on the story??? back to the blue half and go dribble on about swp and how he's going to help your struggle against relegation!

Simon johnson, i know your off school at the moment, but cant you go on another site and stop trying to wind us reds up.

Only a Manchester United player can be charged with violent conduct when the victim is charged with faking injury. It's like the referee awarding a penalty and then booking the striker for diving. SAF is right to criticise the FA, they are selective in who they punish, do they only watch United videos? As regards Rooney's punishment, Duncan Ferguson throws an elbow, Diouf spits at somebody and they both get a 3 game ban; is Rooney's offence on a par with those two?

The FA are indeed a flawed governing body. But then, name one that isnt. Ok, in the rules if you raise your hand to an opponant's face, its an automatic red. So 3 match ban is correct. I just wish that the FA took a long hard look at the way they run football, they are shooting themselves in the foot, by trying too hard to look like they are doin their job. The only way to show this properly is to be consistant, not incompetant, they only make these kind of descisions when the press make a meal of something as innocuous as what Rooney did. Its only coz its rooney and not john smith in the conference.
FA need to BE CONSISTANT, not look like they are incompetant. Rules need to change because at the monment SAF is right; they are running a 'flawed' ship.

A correct decission by the FA. It is time that Rooney learned a lesson and maybe he should spend the time during his suspension to learn some manners.
Sorry to say that Sir? Alex is not the man to do it with his antics and bad behavior in front of the press. Can't say that I blame Rooney too much when the one who is supposed to guide him makes excuses for anything he does.

Sir Alex has really lost the plot here. The fact that Tal Ben Haim made a meal of things is totally irelevant to what Wayne Rooney did. It isn't even mitigating circumstances to lighten his punishment.
Rooney slapped Ben Haim in the face. That is violent conduct. Violence is not measured by the force of the blow, as Sir Alex seems to think, but by the fact that the contact took place. Once Sir Alex gets out of his simplistic way of thinking (If he shouldn't have fallen over, it wasn't violent) he will realise that Rooney got what he deserved. In fact, when you look at his conduct in the last few months, you could even argue that he got off lightly.
On one thing though, I do agree with Sir Alex. Tal Ben Haim also needs to be made an example of. There is far too much cheating going on in the game, with players trying to con the referee. Maybe if the authorities had clamped down on those who dive and feign injury earlier, the same Wayne Rooney wouldn't have dared take that dive against Arsenal when Sol Campbell breathed on him a little bit to heavily for the young scouser's liking.

I am not a united supporter, and I rarely write in on these subjects, but for once I have to say I agree with SAF.
The incident was meaningless- there are so many times during the games that players push each other and nobody takes any notice. If Ben haim hadnt fallen over, clutching his face as if he had been shot, then the game would have continued and nothing would have happened.
Ferguson is 100% right. If Rooney deserves a ban, then the FA should be giving out bans every game.

If the FA are not careful they are going to destroy the careers of potential up and coming players with their stupid decisions and with that the england team. let's be honest, the only reason that the FA are taking this route is because rooney is playing for Manu and that bolton's manager decided for once to let his big mouth rule his brain. if sam allerdyce had not raised a stink about the situation nothing would have happened. I once thought that SA would have been a fit to replace SAF but now must admit I was wrong. no decent manager reacts the way he did on the available evidence. a manager at manu has to have some class. I wonder if the FA would have reacted the same way if england had to play a world/european qualifying cup game and could not pick rooney because he was suspended. this FA gang really baffles the mind. it looks like manu have to do it the hard way afterall.

I really hope that behind all this public show SAF is also giving Rooney the hairdryer treatment for being such a fool. Surely on his wages he has managed to afford a TV and a SKY subscription. Then he should know that there are cameras in the stands that do replays! As for Haim - well sometimes you need a good supporting actor to get your Oscar.

Fergie has a very good point,a professional player like Roy Keane would never cheat,these cheats need to be punished severly,United are being punished for having their games shown live.For a system to be eqaul the FA would have video every game in the football league,also cameras would have to be used for major descisions. No Fergie is right the current system is completely flawed.

George Israel only a fool would say what Hiem did was not the problem.If he had done that in the street the Police would have done him for wiasting time,what Rooney did was not violent not even a common assault.So either take up needlework which would suit you and certain members of the ruling bodies and leave mens games to men.

This is just another indication how flawed and biased the FA are in their dealings with United! What I would like to question is the FA's special relationship with Arsenal and David Dean. Is it healthy for the games senior boddy to have a senior figure connected to a high profile Premier club? The FA is washed with corruption and needs a complete revamp. Id like to see high premier profile clubs like United boycott the FA premier league and take our fans to a restructred Premier league that will show them!

What a lot of rubish patrick in canada ("If the FA are not careful they are going to destroy"). Rooney needs no help with that, he is an accident waiting to happen. That he was not sent off for unbelievable bad behavior for England against Spain was a joke.
Don't think he should even be considered again for England as he is a liability (ofcouse unless Erickson don't mind being down to 10 men before half time.
By the way, Barton should have been charged by the FA, the police and then sacked by City for his cigar antics.(Forever BLUE)

Stupid move for a professial player to behave in this way.,it shows a low form of mentality.
Fergie should not encourage this behavior whether or not Rooneys hand was in the guys face.