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After Sir Alex Ferguson dismissed Chelsea's claims of abuse by Mark Clattenburg following Sunday's clash, the Italian questions the Red Devils boss' influence over officials

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo's war of words with Sir Alex Ferguson has intensified after the Blues manager claimed that the Scot enjoys an enormous influence over referees' decisions.

The Italian was responding to his counterpart's rebuke of the Stamford Bridge outfit's claims that referee Mark Clattenburg abused midfielder John Obi Mikel during the two sides' clash on Sunday.

United won the game 3-2 thanks to a goal from Chicharito, who appeared to be in an offside position, with Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres also being sent off for the hosts, the latter a controversial dismissal.

"I think there is a lot of evidence that United get all the big decisions," Di Matteo told reporters.

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"There are some feelings in general but I don't think they [referees] do that with a purpose, it's just part of their decision-making and it seems to go in one direction."

Chelsea have reported Clattenburg to the Football Association after carrying out an internal investigation of their own and Di Matteo is adamant that they were correct to do so.

"We believe we did what was right. I cannot say more than that because of the investigation," he insisted. "We didn't take the decision lightly. It's a very serious issue.

"He [Sir Alex] likes to talk about other clubs, we tend not to. I'll leave it up to him. It doesn't really affect me too much, to be honest.

"I have to say that it happened in the past as well. I think there is a lot of respect between your colleagues, the managers, in general, and everybody has a different approach. Some people talk about other clubs and clubs' issues and some don't.

"We'll take the knowledge of his comments but it doesn't mean that we share it."


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