Sir Alex Ferguson handed five-match ban for outburst
By Matt Slater
BBC sports news reporter
A Football Association tribunal has given Sir Alex Ferguson a five-match touchline ban for his comments about referee Martin Atkinson.
The Manchester United manager was found guilty of improper conduct for criticising Atkinson's display in the loss at Chelsea earlier this month.
"You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that," Ferguson told MUTV.
The ban starts on 22 March and includes the FA Cup tie against Manchester City.
The Independent Regulatory Commission's sanction is made up of a three-game ban for the Atkinson remarks and the activation of a two-game suspended ban that Ferguson was given last year for suggesting 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.
The reasons for the decision will be sent to Ferguson in the next 24 hours and he then has 48 hours to decide if he wants to appeal. This is why the sanction does not start until after Saturday's home league game against Bolton Wanderers.
Should he accept the punishment, the Old Trafford boss will have to watch the 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.
