Alvaro Arbeloa has been fined £25,000 by the Football Association for comments he made following Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United on September 20 at Craven Cottage. Arbeloa, Fulham’s head coach, was found to have breached FA rules by suggesting that officials displayed bias in the match.

The incident arose after Matheus Cunha’s deflected equalizer secured a draw for Fulham late in the game. Arbeloa publicly criticized the refereeing, stating that decisions favored Manchester United and implying that the match officials were preventing United from losing. The comments came just one week after controversy surrounding a referee’s decision to award a disputed winner to Manchester City in the Manchester derby.

Following an investigation, Arbeloa was charged with misconduct on September 30. An FA spokesperson confirmed the £25,000 fine and a formal warning, noting that Arbeloa admitted to the charges. The statement detailed that the comments made by Arbeloa implied bias and called into question the integrity of the match officials, which the FA deemed improper conduct.

The Premier League’s Key Match Incident Panel reviewed the critical refereeing decisions from the game, including a moment when Manchester United appealed for a penalty following a handball claim against Fulham defender Calvin Bassey. Referee Peter Bankes chose not to award the penalty, and the panel supported this decision upon review.

Fulham, who have been struggling in the Premier League and were bottom of the table at the time of the match, reportedly attributed some of the controversy to Arbeloa’s limited proficiency in English, describing his grasp of the language as “imperfect.” Despite the fine and warning, Arbeloa’s remarks underscore ongoing tensions around refereeing standards in recent Premier League fixtures involving top clubs.