FA aggro for Allardyce

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has denied an FA charge against him for misconduct.

The charge was given to Big Sam for comments made about referee Phil Dowd after the FA Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The FA released a statement saying: "It is alleged Allardyce questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or match officials in general, and/or implied that the match referee and/or match officials in general were motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute in contravention of Rule E3(1).

"Allardyce has requested a personal hearing, the date of which will be set in due course."

In his post match interview, Allardyce suggested referee Dowd didn’t have enough courage to award West Ham a penalty at Old Trafford for what he believed was a clear handball by Red Devils full back Rafael.

He took it one step further by adding: “You see it time and time again at Old Trafford.”

Coincidentally, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been contacted by the FA following his comments after his team’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Sunday. The Scot believed United striker Wayne Rooney should have been awarded a penalty and lashed out out at assistant referee Simon Beck, claiming that “he had a really poor game.” This too is a breach of FA rule E3 concerning comments on match officials- yet Ferguson has only been asked to “explain his comments,” he has not been formally charged, despite what appears to be a sustained attack on Beck, with the United manager citing a game against Chelsea three years ago as justification of his comments. With this in mind, it is difficult to see on what grounds Big Sam has been charged for his comments and Ferguson has not for his.

By Lucy Woolford