Martinez has until 4pm on Thursday to respond to the charge, which is likely
to lead to a fine if upheld by the FA’s disciplinary, but the Spaniard spent
Wednesday night considering his response following discussions with the
The charge follows Martinez’s complaints about decisions going against his team during the 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford — a penalty being awarded to the home side prior to United forward Danny Welbeck avoiding a red card following a late challenge on Wigan forward Franco di Santo.
Martinez said at the time: “I have come to
“Today the penalty is as bad a decision as you are going to see in the
“There were tackles flying around that if they had been the other way round there would have been a couple of red cards.”
Martinez then described Welbeck’s challenge as “completely reckless”, adding: “It is a red card, for a Wigan player, Manchester United, everyone.”
As a result of Martinez’s comments, the FA issued a statement on Wednesday
confirming that the former
The FA said: “The charge is in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 concerning media comments which implied that the match referee and/or match officials in general are motivated by bias and/or brought the game into disrepute.”
