Allardyce denies misconduct charge

Sam Allardyce has denied an FA misconduct charge relating to comments he made about Phil Dowd following West Ham United's FA Cup exit at Old Trafford.

Referee Dowd failed to award West Ham a blatant penalty before awarding the home side a spot kick in almost identical circumstances later in the game - a situation that left Allardyce raging after the final whistle.

Choosing his words carefully during an interview with ITV, Allardyce said: "There's no doubt whatsoever about the difference between Rafael's hand ball and Jordan Spence's. Jordan Spence plays for West Ham away at Man United and Rafael plays at home at Old Trafford. It's got to be that simple when you see it."

Those comments were enough for the FA to hit the Hammers boss with a misconduct charge - one which Allardyce has now denied. As a result, he has requested a personal hearing with the FA.

A short staement on the FA's website read: "It is alleged Allardyce questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or match officials in general, and/or implied that the match referee and/or match officials in general were motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute in contravention of Rule E3(1)."