Dave Whelan blasted in fury on Monday after being told by The Sun that Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney had escaped a three-match ban despite elbowing James McCarthy.
The Wigan Athletic owner, who claimed to have watched the incident and the entire match live from his holiday stay in the Caribbean, was expecting the English FA to punish Wayne Rooney for something that may have attracted a red card in many other cases. But as referee Mark Clattenburg insisted to have taken the “appropriate action” during the match, no further action was taking against Wayne Rooney.
The Manchester United striker even escaped receiving a yellow card for his conduct as a free-kick in favour of Wigan Athletic came out as the only decision from the referee. Sharing his opinions with The Sun, Dave Whelan blasted the FA as a corrupt organization. In a long statement, the Wigan owner declared:
“It sends out a terrible message. Something is wrong when a top international like [Wayne] Rooney is seen doing something like this, as clear as day, and is allowed to get away without being punished.
“If it was any other club or player, you can bet your life that he would have been sent off. But officials seem intimidated by the words ‘Rooney’ and ‘United’.
“Manchester United are allowed to get away with things which the rest of us get pulled up for. And you can’t have one set of rules for one club and another for the rest.
“I don't care what the FA say about the matter being dealt with at the time by us getting a free-kick. They, and everyone else in football, know that justice isn't being served here.
“The FA will be delighted they can hide behind their rules and let Rooney off, as they are frightened of taking sanctions against him and his club.”
“This is another case of people backing away from reacting to a blatant Rooney elbow. In my view, Mark Clattenburg is one of our better referees and maybe he did not see how bad it was.
“But can you honestly tell me the other three officials couldn't see that it was a stonewall sending off?
“If it had been the other way round, and James had whacked Rooney, there's no doubt in my mind he would have been shown a red card.
“Rooney is also very lucky because of the way our lad reacted. If he had gone down, as most do these days for far less, that might have forced the ref to take the proper action.”
In last weekend's Wigan vs Manchester United game, Wayne Rooney went on to score late in the game as the Red Devils destroyed the home side 4-0. So Roo has survived punishment from the FA, meaning that he can play against Chelsea on Tuesday night.
The Manchester United striker even escaped receiving a yellow card for his conduct as a free-kick in favour of Wigan Athletic came out as the only decision from the referee. Sharing his opinions with The Sun, Dave Whelan blasted the FA as a corrupt organization. In a long statement, the Wigan owner declared:
“It sends out a terrible message. Something is wrong when a top international like [Wayne] Rooney is seen doing something like this, as clear as day, and is allowed to get away without being punished.
“If it was any other club or player, you can bet your life that he would have been sent off. But officials seem intimidated by the words ‘Rooney’ and ‘United’.
“Manchester United are allowed to get away with things which the rest of us get pulled up for. And you can’t have one set of rules for one club and another for the rest.
“I don't care what the FA say about the matter being dealt with at the time by us getting a free-kick. They, and everyone else in football, know that justice isn't being served here.
“The FA will be delighted they can hide behind their rules and let Rooney off, as they are frightened of taking sanctions against him and his club.”
“This is another case of people backing away from reacting to a blatant Rooney elbow. In my view, Mark Clattenburg is one of our better referees and maybe he did not see how bad it was.
“But can you honestly tell me the other three officials couldn't see that it was a stonewall sending off?
“If it had been the other way round, and James had whacked Rooney, there's no doubt in my mind he would have been shown a red card.
“Rooney is also very lucky because of the way our lad reacted. If he had gone down, as most do these days for far less, that might have forced the ref to take the proper action.”
In last weekend's Wigan vs Manchester United game, Wayne Rooney went on to score late in the game as the Red Devils destroyed the home side 4-0. So Roo has survived punishment from the FA, meaning that he can play against Chelsea on Tuesday night.
