FA warn Fergie and Ancelotti

MANCHESTER UNITED boss Alex Ferguson and Chelsea counterpart Carlo Ancelotti have both received warnings from the Football Association for making comments about Howard Webb before their recent Barclays Premier League clash.

Both managers made positive remarks about World Cup final referee Webb ahead of the May 8 meeting of the title rivals at Old Trafford, contravening FA regulations which prohibit any comment — good or bad —about referees prior to games.

The governing body’s regulatory commission yesterday warned Ferguson as to his future conduct in relation to the comments before later issuing an identical judgment on the Blues boss.

Ferguson’s warning comes three weeks after he completed a five-match ban for negative comments made about ref Martin Atkinson. But the FA received criticism for raising an improper conduct charge over the positive comments he made and Ferguson is not believed to have offered a significant response to the charge.

And yesterday both he and Ancelotti — whose comments were less widely reported — learned they will face no punishment beyond a gentle reminder not to do it again.

Ferguson had said in the build-up to the match, which his side won 2-1: “We are getting the best ref, there is no doubt about that.

“But (getting a bad decision) is definitely our big fear.”

Ancelotti was similarly glowing about Webb: “Howard Webb is a fantastic referee, he has experience, he has skills, but this is football and sometimes when things are not good you speak about the bad decisions against you.”