Premier League plans tougher rules to make Sir Alex Ferguson talk

Posted Friday, December 10, 2010 by theguardian.com

Premier League plans tougher rules to make Sir Alex Ferguson talk
Sir Alex Ferguson still refuses to speak to the BBC despite rules designed to make managers talk to rights holders.

The Premier League plans to introduce rules that would require managers and players to talk to the press after every match or face a fine, as part of a drive to improve relations with the media.

The new rules will force Sir Alex Ferguson, who has already landed Manchester United with a substantial fine for refusing to talk to the BBC this season, to reverse his refusal to talk to journalists after every match or face further penalties from next season. In recent years Ferguson has habitually failed to talk to the press after Premier League matches in contrast to almost every other manager. Instead he gives an interview to MUTV, the club's TV channel, and the Premier League's overseas broadcasting outlet.

While almost every other club conducts post-match interviews already, the new rules, if approved, would seek to introduce "minimum standards" that would prevent managers arbitrarily cancelling press conferences at the last minute. Today Ferguson cancelled a pre-match press conference before Monday's Arsenal match in protest at the reporting of comments in the run-up to the Manchester derby.

The new rules, which build on a clause introduced this season that requires managers to conduct post-match interviews with broadcasting partners, are likely to be put before the 20 clubs next June.

Ferguson has repeatedly used his influence at Manchester United to punish particular media outlets that have displeased him. He has periodically imposed bans on virtually every British media outlet at one time or another during his 24-year tenure at Manchester United but none has been nearly as long-standing as his refusal to speak to the BBC which he has maintained since 2004 and is now in breach of new rules introduced this season. The row dates back to a BBC3 documentary that made allegations about his son Jason, then an agent.

Before the new rules came in at the beginning of the season, it is believed that the League Managers Association's chief executive, Richard Bevan, attempted to mediate in the long-running row but with limited success.

Three years after the documentary was broadcast Ferguson said: "I think the BBC is the kind of company that never apologise and they never will apologise. They are arrogant beyond belief." The Scot has vowed not to speak to the corporation, despite it paying around £170m for the rights to Match of the Day, until he receives an apology. Few observers on either side of the argument expect that to happen.

But the Premier League is understood to feel there is still a chance of a rapprochement and is reluctant to reveal the size of the fine until all avenues have been exhausted. The level of the fine for Ferguson's refusal to co-operate is believed to total at least £65,000 already.

Other managers, including Harry Redknapp and Sam Allardyce, have refused to engage with broadcasters on occasion. The new rules would apply to all media, including press and radio, and not just to rights holders. They would require the manager, and possibly a player, from each side to be made available at post-match press conferences.

The Premier League has long grappled with how to improve access to players and managers while also seeking to take the heat out of the current adversarial system that tends to filter all interaction through the managers. There is a reluctance to impose too many strict rules in recognition of the fact that many clubs have good relations with the local and national media and well established practices. But there is also an acknowledgment that minimum standards are now required.

In American sport, there is traditionally much more open access to players and coaches, particularly for rights holders.

The proposals will be put to the 20 Premier League clubs at their end-of- season AGM and require a two-thirds majority to be passed.