Sam Allardyce’s rant after the match against Manchester United on January 16 is going to hit him hard in the wallet. The Football Association announced on Wednesday that West Ham’s manager will have to fork over £8,000 because of his comments regarding official Phil Dowd.
The rant came as a result of Dowd awarding United a handball penalty after denying West Ham one at the other end just one minute prior. Wayne Rooney missed his shot, but Allardyce was still enraged over the incident.
After the match, Allardyce spoke to ITV and said that “There’s no doubt about the difference between Rafael’s handball and Jordan Spence’s. Spence plays for West Ham and the away team, while Rafael plays for the home side at Old Trafford. You see it time and time again at Old Trafford.”
Allardyce did not drop the matter after those comments and went on to say that “He couldn’t find the courage to give it unfortunately, and he then went down the other end and there was a very similar incident with Jordan Spence and it was given.
“That is a very big disappointment for me – the lack of consistency in that area. I think you have to have courage to play here and to referee here.
“But why are you a professional referee or player? To come to these places to do your job, and do it to the best of your ability. Phil Dowd is a hugely-experienced referee and one of the top ones in this country, but today I have to say he did get it wrong.”
The FA released a statement on their website regarding Allardyce’s comments, saying that “Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Sam Allardyce has been fined £8,000 for media comments made after his side’s FA Cup with Budweiser Third Round replay against Manchester United on 16 January 2013.
“The West Ham United manager was charged for a breach of FA Rule E3 in that he questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or match officials in general, and/or implied that the match referee and/or match officials in general were motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute.
“Allardyce, who had denied the misconduct charge and requested a personal hearing, was also warned as to his future conduct.”
While it is understandable that Allardyce is upset over the matter, he may want to learn to control his anger in the future. Not only did his temper cost him part of his salary but the tarnish to the team’s image could impact it’s dealing with sponsors, such as the club’s jersey sponsorship with SBOBET. The last thing a sponsor wants is association with a club with lots of negative press. Hopefully this turns out to be an instance where cooler heads failed to prevail and in the future he keeps negative comments about the refs to himself.
My oh my, what a nonsense article!
It is widely accepted that Big Sams assessment and statement made regarding the referees performance was factual and that as the manager he is the only person in a position to make such comments on behalf of West Ham!
I suspect this article is being used as another stick with which to beat “our” manager with ……Unbelievable!
He only stated what most supporters know to be true its been going on for years,ref’s are scared of upsetting certain clubs and managers,other managers usually bite their tongue’s to avoid being fined,if anyone saw the handball in question the decision not to give it was criminal.I think that ref should have been punished for not carrying out his duty properly.Those kind of decisions can cost managers their jobs.If refs haven’t got the balls for the job or turn a blind eye,they should be demoted.
This was announced 2 weeks ago, how behind are you?!