Ferguson calls it all collusion

Soccer: Alex Ferguson has kept his own counsel throughout one of the most turbulent periods in Manchester United's recent history but, when he broke his silence yesterday, he opted for the scattergun form of attack.

His rage was directed primarily towards the FA and its chief executive Mark Palios, saying they had "hung Rio Ferdinand out to dry" but it was soon Arsenal's turn to come under fire, Ferguson accusing them of "doing a deal" with the authorities after their now infamous visit to Old Trafford six weeks ago.

Until now Ferguson had been reluctant to speak about the Ferdinand case or the fall-out from the so-called Battle of Old Trafford. But at the end of a week in which it has been made clear his most expensive player is likely to face a substantial ban and Arsenal have escaped relatively lightly from their disciplinary hearing, the United manager decided it was time to have his say.

Palios, for one, can consider his relationship with the country's premier club to have suffered irreparable damage. Ferguson admitted he feared the worst for Ferdinand, believing the FA wanted to make an example out of a high-profile player. In a thinly veiled reference to Palios, who has staked his reputation on the outcome, he claimed there were "ambitious people" at the FA who were using the case to "make a name for themselves".

He then turned his anger on Arsenal, his specific allegation being that the deposed champions colluded with the FA behind the scenes before the disciplinary hearing on Thursday that saw the club fined £175,000 and bans handed out to Martin Keown, Lauren, Ray Parlour and Patrick Vieira.

Ferguson's anger emanates from the length of the suspensions - "do you not think they'll be delighted?" he asked - but mostly from the fact that, on October 15 when Arsenal let it be known they would not contest the bulk of the allegations, several of the charges facing their players were immediately dropped or reduced to lesser offences.

Jens Lehmann, for example, was told he no longer faced an indictment of improper conduct towards a match official and was simply warned about his future conduct, while Parlour, Keown and Lauren had charges downgraded, saving them from bans of up to eight matches. Instead Lauren received a four-match suspension, Keown will miss three games and Parlour and Vieira one each. Those bans will hurt Arsenal but Ferguson believes it should have been far worse.

"Lehmann has got off with shoving the referee and the linesman. He's not even been charged and I can't believe it," said Ferguson. "They've clearly done a deal. I think the suspicion right through the country is that something has been going on behind the scenes.

"They've had their charges dropped - don't ask me how - and they're very fortunate to be in a position within the game to do that. The charges were dropped right away and I've never heard of anything like that before. Has anyone heard of it happening before?"

Ferguson stopped short of accusing David Dein but has made it clear in the past that he is suspicious of the power the Arsenal executive has at Soho Square in his role as one of the FA's vice-chairmen.

"I think it's obvious they (Arsenal) have been doing deals (with the FA) for years. Look at the number of times they've got off with charges outside of the 50-odd sending-offs they have had under (Arsene) Wenger. I think they have been up 10 times before the FA and have got off with eight of those. It's remarkable, very remarkable."

The official figures do not support Ferguson's argument and the FA said last night it would be looking closely at his comments, but the United manager clearly believes Arsenal have used every trick available. He is also furious that Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs must still answer misconduct charges next month for their alleged involvement.

"I don't know how they (Arsenal) have done it but we wouldn't have got away with it," Ferguson added. "Arsenal are very fortunate, as I say, but we hope we can win titles without any (outside) help."

Ferguson said Ferdinand was coping admirably with the pressure that comes from knowing he is almost certain to face a long ban for his missed drugs test but criticised the FA for the way it has handled the case.

"He's been found guilty without any reason by the media, and by the FA before the case has been heard," said Ferguson. "The way he has been hung out is very disappointing and Rio is having to carry that around with him. What he has done well is focus on the games but off the pitch it's clearly not been easy for him."

Ferdinand's mood will not have been helped by a road-rage incident in which he was involved after leaving training at United's practice ground yesterday. Ferdinand, who had just finished a driving ban, was almost in collision with another car as he pulled out on a roundabout. The England international appeared to be talking on his mobile phone .

The other driver stopped his car, blocking Ferdinand in behind him while they remonstrated with each other.

Asked if he feared there was a groundswell of opinion that Ferdinand's high profile might lead to him being treated more harshly than a player from the lower divisions Ferguson admitted it was one of his main concerns.

Talking directly about the disciplinary process, he said: "Manchester United is the perfect platform for all the ambitious people in football who want to make a name for themselves.

"We've seen it before; Manchester United is the perfect name for them."