FA snub Ferguson

The Football Association today dismissed Sir Alex Ferguson's call for action to be taken against Arsenal star Robin van Persie.

The Manchester United manager had accused the Dutchman of elbowing Kieran Richardson during his team's 1-0 Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford last night.

Ferguson, whose side now meet Chelsea in the semi-final, was furious referee Mark Halsey missed the incident and called for the FA to investigate video replays of the clash which, he says, sparked another round of angry confrontations between the clubs' players.

But the ruling body are happy that Halsey took appropriate action following the incident.

"We have reviewed the actions of all the players involved in the incident and are satisfied that no disciplinary action is required," an FA spokesman said today.

With the fall-out from their last meeting in the Premiership in October still being felt, Ferguson's call for FA action created further tensions between Highbury and Old Trafford. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be relieved as he already faces an injury crisis and knew a three-match ban for Van Persie would have caused further problems.

"Van Persie was lucky to stay on," said Ferguson. "The FA must look at it because the boy threw an elbow. The referee told me he hadn't seen the elbow." Wenger agreed his summer signing could have seen a red card instead of a yellow. He said: "I did fear it was going to be worse than a yellow. It could have been.

"Robin shows great potential but he must also learn to keep his nerves under control and not get overexcited. I considered taking him off because he was involved in some heated moments." Arsenal midfielders Gilberto Silva and Edu are out of first-team action until the end of the month at the earliest because of injury and striker Dennis Bergkamp will also be missing from the Premiership clash with Birmingham at Highbury on Saturday.