LONDON – Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that “foreign players” are the worst culprits when it comes to diving. The Manchester United manager’s comments came in response to Sergio Agüero’s criticism that there is a bias against overseas footballers from domestic referees in the Premier League when awarding fouls.Ferguson, who is preparing his side for Tuesday evening’s Champions League group game at Cluj, the Romanian title holders, said: “It’s not worth going into that subject because down the years there have been plenty of players diving, and you have to say particularly foreign players.”In Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, one of Ferguson’s own foreign contingent Nani appeared to be denied a penalty when Jan Vertonghen pulled the Portuguese back in the area. The referee Chris Foy did not award the kick, and while Ferguson does not think the winger is a diver, he did say after the match that the penalty may have been denied due to Nani overplaying the incident.“There were quite a few [penalty claims],” he said. “I think the one in the first half was a clear penalty kick, but maybe Nani made a meal of it and he didn’t need to do that. He was clearly pulled back.”
