Vieira backtracks after accusing referees of favouring United
In the wake of Michael Oliver’s refusal to give Fulham a last-minute penalty at Old Trafford on Monday evening that could have denied United two crucial points in the Premier League title race, Vieira laid bare his belief that the Red Devils get preferential treatment in an interview with the BBC.
“When United play at home they get some advantage that other teams don’t get,” Vieira said.
“When you go to United, Madrid, Barcelona or Milan, it’s always difficult for the referee to go against these kind of teams.
“This is the way it is. It’s something the teams who are used to winning get all the time, so we need to win games so we have this advantage in the future.”
Under the circumstances, the comments were inflammatory and appeared oddly timed given City have now fallen three points behind in their championship race.
Last week, City’s football development executive Vieira suggested United’s decision to bring Paul Scholes out of retirement during the January transfer window smacked of desperation.
That claim brought a stinging response from Alex Ferguson, who claimed Roberto Mancini was the desperate one for choosing to select Carlos Tevez, a player the City manager previously stated would never appear for the club again.
The Scot also stated he had “plenty of ammunition” if City wanted to engage in a war of mind games.
Although they have not denied Vieira made the comments that have been reported, Manchester City released a strongly-worded statement last night condemning the manner in which they were used during an interview which was supposed to be part of Vieira’s charity work for Football Against Hunger, a campaign to tackle starvation in Africa. “Patrick Vieira has expressed his disappointment and anger at what he feels is a serious and cynical misrepresentation of an interview he gave to the BBC,” said the statement.
Vieira added: “I am very angry with [reporter] Dan Roan. I feel he has misrepresented me.
“I made it clear in the interview twice that I wanted to avoid criticising United and even stated that I didn’t watch the United game against Fulham and had not seen the incident to which he referred.
“That part of the interview was ignored and my comments were taken completely out of context.
“I called the reporter twice to ask for a retraction and an apology which has not come.”
* Carlos Tevez scored his first Manchester City goal last night since returning from exile as City reserves beat Morecambe 6-1.
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