Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson on Tuesday threw his full support behind his former assistant Carlos Queiroz, who is fighting allegations of misconduct that could cost him his job as Portugal coach.
Ferguson testified on Queiroz's behalf at a Portuguese Football Federation hearing into charges he was aggressive and insulting toward an anti-doping team sent to test the Portugal squad ahead of the World Cup.
Queiroz has denied disrupting the tests but could be suspended - and consequently fired - if he is found guilty.
Ferguson was among the witnesses called by Queiroz to provide character references at a disciplinary hearing in Lisbon. Queiroz was Ferguson's assistant at Old Trafford for five years before taking charge of Portugal.
''He's a fantastic coach and teacher, and his main purpose in life is to develop young people, to inspire them and to make sure they turn out good human beings, so that's the reason I'm here to support him, because I know him well and he's a great man of great dignity,'' Ferguson told reporters after testifying.
''Carlos is one of the good guys.''
The incident occurred in May at the squad's training camp in central Portugal before it traveled to South Africa. Officials sent to carry out surprise tests on Portuguese players said Queiroz harassed and intimidated them and used foul language.
Disrupting doping tests is punishable by law, either with a fine of up to ?10,000 ($13,000) or a suspension of up to four years.
Queiroz has denied the charges. He has previously said he was angry that the unannounced early morning tests had disturbed the players but said he did not obstruct the testing. He has said he regrets the language he used but said cursing is not unusual in football.
None of the players tested positive.
Ferguson said doping controls place ''a terrible strain on football managers'' because they have to know where their players are at all times of the day.
''Understandably, in Carlos's situation, preparing for a World Cup as he was, this became a great interference for him,'' Ferguson said.
''He should stay (as Portugal coach) because he's good enough. He has a great reputation.''
Other witnesses called by Queiroz in his defense are former Portugal international Luis Figo and the club presidents of Benfica and FC Porto.
Queiroz, whose two-year tenure as coach has drawn broad criticism over his team's performances, recently complained he was being subject to a ''public lynching'' as details of the inquiry were leaked to the media. He has claimed the proceedings are a pretext to get rid of him. He has a contract through 2012.
The federation declined to comment on the proceedings, saying they are confidential until the findings are released in coming days.
The Portuguese Sports Institute, which oversees doping tests, opened an inquiry into Queiroz's conduct which it sent to the secretary of state for sport, who then forwarded its findings to the federation for action.
