The Scot had denied the charge after describing assistant referee Simon Beck’s performance as “shockingly bad”, but has been found guilty by an Independent Regulatory Commission

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been fined by the Football Association following comments regarding assistant referee Simon Beck in the aftermath of the club’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham.

The 71-year-old had denied the official charge on February 1, but has now been fined £12,000 for the disbaraging remarks about Beck’s “shockingly bad” performance following a decision by an Independent Regulatory Commission which included written evidence by the United boss.

Speaking after the 1-1 draw, which saw Tottenham net an injury-time equaliser, Sir Alex pulled up past examples of mistakes by Beck and highlighted Wayne Rooney’s unsuccessful penalty appeal

He said: I think we should have had a throw-in down our side of the pitch but that linesman never gave us a thing all day.

“For me, it was a poor performance by him. He never saw the penalty kick for Wayne Rooney and some other decisions too.

“We remember him well from his time at the Chelsea game when Didier Drogba was three yards offside and he gave onside. I think he had a shocking game today, and I’m disappointed in his performance, I really am.

“I think he has had a bad game, and we never got anything from that side of the pitch. We got a bad break.”