Manchester: Manchester United chief executive David Gill has accused the FA of victimising his club with unfair punishments that would not be handed out to their rivals.
An FA board member, Gill has criticised decisions taken by sport's governing body in the UK, believing the Red Devils get a raw deal.
He highlighted manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s five-game touchline ban and the two-game suspension given to striker Wayne Rooney for swearing into a television camera.
Gill said: “I do genuinely believe there have been some poorish decisions that, in my opinion, wouldn't necessarily have hit other clubs.
“That's not to say I'm condoning Wayne's comments, because I don't think they were correct, or what Sir Alex said, because it wasn't helpful. But at the same time, the actual punishments were harsh.
“We're possibly being caught up in being one of the biggest clubs and the [FA's] Respect agenda being there.
“What better way to demonstrate the authorities are being tough than by hitting one of the biggest clubs the hardest?”
Gill’s comments were in Champ19ns, a book about Manchester United’s Premier League-winning campaign last year by Steve Bartram.
The five-match touchline ban given to Ferguson meant he was unable to sit in the dugout for United’s 1-0 semi-final loss in the FA Cup to Manchester City, the first ever manager to be unable to do so at Wembley.
The chief executive was particularly sceptical of the “dangerous course” the FA took by banning England international Rooney for his verbal misdemeanour.
“The club doesn't condone it [Rooney's swearing], but Wayne recognised it was wrong and apologised almost immediately,” Gill said.
“We have various issues with the ban: one being consistency. What's going to happen now? Is the referee under pressure to send everyone off?
“I think sometimes in celebration people do swear and all that means is that, to my mind, it's a dangerous course the FA has gone down, because consistent application is what's required and I'm not sure that'll necessarily happen. There are certain things you should wait until the start of the season to change.
“But it's a lesson to Wayne. He subsequently scored a great goal against Chelsea and smiled – that's what we want to see.
“There should be exuberance, but you look at the abuse to which he was subjected [by West Ham supporters] and I know people say you've got to rise above it, but I defy anyone being vilified to that level always to retain your cool.
“I don't think the media helped either, with the constant repetition of footage, with his mouth blurred out.”
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