ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Chelsea v Manchester UnitedMIKE RILEY, the head of the professional referees' organisation, has defended Mark Clattenburg over his decision not to pursue a violent conduct charge against Wayne Rooney for elbowing James McCarthy at Wigan last Saturday.
The Manchester United forward is free to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tonight, Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday and Arsenal or Leyton Orient in the FA Cup, having escaped a three-match ban.
In the incident at the DW Stadium, Rooney was seen raising an elbow into the side of the Wigan midfielder’s head. He could have missed two key league games – as United attempt to land a 19th title – under the Football Association’s fast-track disciplinary system.
But Clattenburg claimed he had handled the situation correctly on the day by awarding a free kick to Wigan and the English FA was thus powerless to impose retrospective punishment.
The FA spoke to Clattenburg yesterday morning and was informed that the official stood by his decision to award Wigan a free-kick and warn Rooney about his behaviour.
Under Fifa regulations – the world governing body is opposed to the influence of video technology – the FA could only have acted had Clattenburg not spotted the incident or, having reviewed it, admitted that he made a mistake.
“Mark took the correct course of action with this incident,” claimed Riley, the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials. “Match officials are trained to prioritise following the ball, as that is where the greater majority of incidents are going to take place. However, we also do a lot of work around the area of peripheral vision, to be aware of anything that might happen off the ball.
“In this incident Mark was following play, but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free-kick because he believed one player had impeded the other. We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch.”
United – with Ryan Giggs battling to overcome a hamstring strain before tonight’s game – would move 18 points clear of Chelsea, the defending champions, and seven ahead of their nearest rivals, Arsenal, if they win at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, says he has no complaint with Rooney being able to play. When asked if it was fair the England forward had escaped punishment, the Italian added: “I think so. If this is the rules and the FA decide this, I am happy to play against Rooney.”
Alex Ferguson had claimed after his team’s 4-0 win at Wigan that Rooney would be the victim of a witch hunt by the media but Roberto Martinez, his opposite number, said he would have been “very surprised” to see one of his players stay on the pitch had the roles been reversed.
Ancelotti yesterday refused to confirm whether Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba or both would lead the Chelsea attack tonight. Ancelotti must decide whether to recall Drogba after the striker once again started on the bench in last week’s Champions League win at FC Copenhagen.
David Luiz returns to the squad after being ineligible for the last two matches, but Alex (knee) and Yossi Benayoun (Achilles) are still sidelined.
GuardianService
