Soccer: Graham Poll will be entrusted with refereeing Manchester United's match at Arsenal on February 1st, a fixture made all the more incendiary by the latest bitter exchanges between the two clubs' managers.
An increasingly exasperated Football Association is considering its response to the current round of public squabbling between Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
The governing body is aware a strongly-worded statement from its chairman Geoff Thompson did little to curb either manager, but it is unsure how to rein in two men who have been the most influential figures in English football in the past decade.
The FA is desperate to prevent a repeat of the bad-tempered displays from both sets of players which seem to be becoming usual in their fixtures. After Mike Riley's widely derided performance in the last match last October - which ended Arsenal's unbeaten run on 49 games - it is felt Poll's authority will help achieve a more measured tone. He is the only English referee to be shortlisted for the 2006 World Cup.
Nonetheless the FA fears further outbursts between the managers will add fuel to what is already a heated fixture and hope the two men recognise this could have implications for their players' safety. With this in mind, the FA's compliance unit will act on Wenger's recommendation to get tough if any provocative comments are made in the build-up to the match.
"We're comfortable that the disrepute laws are sufficiently wide that they could cover that issue," said a source. "It is the question of implementation that we would look at."
It appears without a formal diktat there will be no proactive response from the clubs to the FA's call to mollify their managers' conduct. David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester United, met Arsenal's vice-chairman David Dein after the Old Trafford fixture but that has done little to bring the clubs closer together.
The FA's compliance unit is set for a busy time, a letter having been dispatched to Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho asking him to explain his comments to Chelsea TV after the 0-0 League Cup semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho referred to "cheating" by the Manchester United players and if the FA deems his response unsatisfactory he may be charged with disrepute. The FA is also considering taking action against Chelsea captain John Terry for his implied criticism of the referee in that match, Neale Barry, in which he claimed the official had not been "fair".
Wayne Rooney learned yesterday neither the FA nor Merseyside police will pursue complaints about his goal celebration during United's 1-0 victory at Anfield on Saturday.
- Guardian Service
