Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand won’t receive any punishments from the UEFA for sarcastically clapping the referee Cuneyt Cakir after the end of the match against Real Madrid in the Round of 16 Champions League tie at Old Trafford.
United were comfortably leading the tie after taking the lead in the second half but a controversial decision from the referee (showing Nani red card) changed the complexion of the game and United lost the second leg 2-1 and the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
Everyone at the stadium was shell shocked with that decision and with emotions running high; Ferdinand confronted the ref and sarcastically clapped in front of him after the match.
All eyes were on referee Cakir’s match report and it was thought that Ferdinand might be punished for his rude behaviour. However, according to latest reports, UEFA decided not to punish him though the club could be charged for breaching the Champion League’s post-match rules and regulations.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in 2005 also sarcastically applauded referee Kim Milton Nielsen, after he was given the marching orders for getting two yellow cards during 1-1 draw against La Liga outfit Villarreal in the Champions League.
Further UEFA’s disciplinary body would be reviewing Nani’s challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa and will come to a decision whether it is worthy of a punishment beyond the customary one-match ban or not.
UEFA further could charge Manchester United for breaching the obligations set out in the Champions League’s post match regulations.
The rules on post-match media obligation states:
Both clubs must make their manager/head coach available for this press conference. All players of both teams are obliged to pass through the mixed zone in order to conduct interviews with the media. Players must fulfill interview requests from audiovisual rights holders before conducting interviews for their club media platforms.
Sir Alex Ferguson did not turn up for the post-match interview neither did any United players spoke to the media, which contravenes the competition rules.
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