Alvaro Arbeloa fined £25,000 for comments questioning refereeing after Manchester United defeat

Alvaro Arbeloa has been fined £25,000 and warned by the English Football Association over comments made after Fulham’s meeting with Manchester United last September.

An independent commission ruled that the Fulham manager’s remarks were improper and amounted to questioning the integrity of one of the match officials. Arbeloa had also suggested that refereeing decisions had favoured Manchester United during the game.

Speaking after the match, the Spanish coach said: “I think all the mistakes were in their favour. It was clear that before they scored their goal, there was a foul on Harry Maguire. He is a player who weighs 100 kilograms, so yes, all the decisions were in their favour.”

Arbeloa added: “I already knew that from the Manchester City game. I knew they were not going to allow Manchester United to lose. I think we deserved more than that.”

The commission concluded that the comments implied there had been bias in the officiating and cast doubt on the referee’s integrity, leading to the financial penalty and formal warning.

It also acknowledged Arbeloa’s swift admission that he had made a mistake. However, the commission urged him not to repeat such conduct, noting that he may have been frustrated by being subject to disciplinary proceedings early in his career in English football.

Fulham have endured a difficult start to their Premier League campaign. They are bottom of the table with two points from six matches and have yet to win under Arbeloa.