UEFA take disciplinary action against Man Utd

UEFA have announced that they have begun begun disciplinary proceedings against Manchester United following their Champions League defeat by Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

Europeans football governing body may punish United for “non-fulfilment” of post-match media obligations after Sir Alex Ferguson and his players failed to give any interviews in the wake of Tuesday nights Champions League exit.

Ferguson was reportedly furious about the dismissal of Nani, who was controversially red carded in the 56th minute, when United were 1-0 up.

Nani was sent off, incorrectly in the opinion of many experts, for a high challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa, and Madrid then scored twice in three minutes to secure a 3-2 aggregate win.

Ferguson did not appear for interviews after the match, and the players did not stop to talk to the media in the mixed zone, as is conventional.

Champions League regulations compel clubs to ‘make their manager/head coach available’ for a UEFA-run news conference within 20 minutes of the final whistle, so Ferguson may be ordered to pay a fine.

A spokesman for European football’s governing body said on Wednesday: “UEFA has opened proceedings against Manchester United for the non-fulfilment of media obligations by the coach and players.

“The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body on Thursday 21 March.”

UEFA also say they have opened routine proceedings against Nani over the sending off.

All players receiving red cards for serious foul play in a UEFA match have their case referred to the disciplinary body, which has the power to extend Nani’s one-match ban.

However, there was no mention of any action being taken against United players for dissent after unhappy United players surrounded the referee at the final whistle and Rio Ferdinand could be spotted sarcastically applauding Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir.

UEFA had earlier released a statement in support of Cakir’s decision to dismiss Nani which said: “There are no issues for us regarding the sending off.”