Fulham coach Arbeloa fined for comments about referee after Premier League draw with Man United

LONDON (AP) — Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa was fined 25,000 pounds ($33,200) and given a warning Wednesday for his comments after a Premier League match against Manchester United that questioned the integrity of the referee.

Arbeloa accepted a charge that he “acted in an improper manner” with his remarks made following the 1-1 draw between the teams at Fulham's Craven Cottage on Sept. 20.

“I think all fouls for them,” the Spaniard said at the time in reference to United, which had lost to Manchester City the previous weekend because of a contentious goal.

“Every decision was for them,” Arbeloa added, “and I knew, I knew after the game against Man City that they don’t let Manchester United lose here.”

According to its written reasons published Wednesday, the independent commission investigating the incident “felt that those words suggested, not only that there was bias on the part of the match officials throughout the game on repeated occasions, but also that there may even have been an element of pre-meditation by them and/or others to try to make up for an error in a different match.”

Arbeloa is in his first season with Fulham after leaving Real Madrid.

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