Man Utd's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been banned for five matches for his outburst against referee Martin Atkinson during histeam's match against Chelsea on 2nd March.

The FA decided Ferguson had been out of line in his criticism of the ref at the time, when he said he had wanted a 'fair referee' in charge of the game - which Man U lost 2-1 - and said he had dreaded the ref when he knew who it was going to be.

Outspoken Ferguson was angered when the ref did not dish out a red card to Chelsea defender David Luiz, but the FA have banned him for 5 matches and fined him £30,000.

Ferguson's suspension will mean he will miss Utd's all-important FA Cup semi-final against Man City.

He intends to appeal against the decision.