Alvaro Arbeloa hit with £25k FA fine after saying referee would 'not let Manchester United lose'

Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa has received a £25,000 FA fine and a warning on Wednesday for post-match comments questioning the integrity of the referee following last month's Premier League match against Manchester United .

Arbeloa accepted a charge that he had "acted in an improper manner" through remarks made after the 1-1 draw between the sides at Craven Cottage on 20 September.

"I think all fouls for them," the Spaniard stated following the match, in reference to United, who had lost to Manchester City the previous weekend due to a contentious goal.

"Every decision was for them," Arbeloa added, "and I knew, I knew after the game against Man City that they don't let Manchester United lose here."

Written reasons published on Wednesday showed the independent commission investigating the incident "felt that those words suggested, not only that there was bias on the part of the match officials throughout the game on repeated occasions, but also that there may even have been an element of pre-meditation by them and/or others to try to make up for an error in a different match."

Arbeloa is currently in his first season at Fulham having left Real Madrid over the summer.

Fulham are currently bottom of the table after taking just two points from their opening six games. One of those draws came against United, while they also earned a point away at Liverpool. They have been beaten by Chelsea, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town.

Arbeloa's side are due to return to action when they host newly-promoted Hull City on Saturday at Craven Cottage. They will then face another promoted club, Coventry City, seven days later before playing Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup for a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Fulham's final match in October will be a trip to Aston Villa.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have failed to bounce back after last month's draw at Fulham. Since returning from the international break, Michael Carrick's side have been held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Tottenham, and they were then beaten 2-0 by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.