Sir Alex Ferguson to appeal FA charge

Manchester United have revealed that manager Sir Alex Ferguson will appeal a a charge by the FA for improper conduct pertaining to the comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson following United's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. A personal hearing will be scheduled no later than Friday, March 25th. A club spokesman told the club website, www.ManUtd.com, "Sir Alex has responded to the FA today to deny the charge of improper conduct. He has requested a personal hearing." Fergie's criticism of Atkinson stemmed from the referee's decision not to send off Chelsea defender David Luiz for several rash challenges and also the awarding of a penalty to Chelsea's Yuri Zhirkov, a decision that the United boss considered "soft."