Ferguson charged over Wiley fitness comments

They may sit atop the Premier League, but things took a turn for the worse for Manchester United yesterday. First, manager Sir Alex Ferguson was finally charged by the Football Association for comments made about referee Alan Wiley in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford earlier this month. Then the team left for their Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow tomorrow night missing five first team regulars.

Ferguson's charge had been expected after he slammed Wiley following a game that Manchester United ought to have won. "The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit," Ferguson told MUTV. "You see referees abroad who are as fit as butchers' dogs. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous." Although the Scotsman has subsequently apologised for any "personal embarrassment" that he had caused Wiley, it cut no ice with the FA.

"Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with improper conduct," the national governing body for the sport said yesterday. "The charge relates to media comments made by Ferguson about referee Alan Wiley following United's match against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 3 October. He has until 3 November to respond to the charge." Ferguson could receive a touchline ban for up to five matches, which would be a record, in a sign that the FA wants to put managers in their place and protect their staff better.

Things got worse when the Manchester united squad flew out to Russia missing Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-sung and Darren Fletcher, all regular starters for the team. The potentially tricky tie will be played on an astroturf surface at the Luzhniki Stadium, the scene of United's 2008 Champions League victory over Chelsea, although on that night a temporary grass pitch had been laid.

England came a cropper at the stadium in October 2007 when they lost 2-1 to Russia, but Ferguson is sanguine about the surface. "I have no issues with the pitch," he told the Guardian. "When Luton and QPR had [plastic pitches] all those years ago, we always played well on them."