Rooney charged
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was on Wednesday charged with violent conduct by the Football Association after he shoved Bolton's Tal Ben Haim in the face at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.
The England star, who faces a three-match ban, has until 6pm today to decide whether or not to appeal against the charge.
The case will be heard by a disciplinary commission tomorrow.
Should Rooney be found guilty, he would be suspended for three matches, starting with the New Year's Day trip to Middlesbrough.
Meanwhile, Israeli defender Haim, whose exaggerated reaction to the push was branded "a disgrace" by United boss Alex Ferguson, has been charged with improper conduct.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said he believed his forward was becoming the victim of a witch-hunt, claiming Haim should be the man in the dock.
"Because it is Wayne Rooney and because it is Manchester United, the emphasis is taken off the Bolton player completely," the United boss said.
"That is sad because it is obvious to everybody what he did. He laid down there for about two minutes rolling around, which is absolutely disgraceful as far as I am concerned and should be more of a concern for football in general than talking about Wayne Rooney."
A suspension for Rooney could deal a major blow to United's Premiership title push with the Old Trafford giants already nine points behind leaders Chelsea.
With Louis Saha sidelined until the middle of January at the earliest with a knee problem and Ruud van Nistelrooy out for even longer as he nurses an Achilles injury, the Red Devils chief can ill afford to be denied the services of another striker.
United officials were not likely to decide whether to contest the charge until yesterday, although given the nature of the offence and the FA's strict interpretation of it, a guilty plea is possible despite Ferguson's reservations.
Bolton boss Sam Allardyce was honest enough to admit his player had gone down "too easily" and with the FA eager to clamp down on the diving culture which seems to have crept into the English game, Haim is likely to find himself on the end of a suspension as well.
Tiger Cup
Singapore defeated Myanmar 4-3 in Tiger Cup semifinal, first leg play at the Cheras Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, giving them the advantage going into the Cup's semifinal second leg early next month.
Singapore drew first blood in the 21st minute when a shot by Mark Daniel Bennet deflected off a Myanmar defender and found the net, despite a dive by goalkeeper Aung Aung On.
Myanmar tied up the match in the 35th minute when skipper Soe Myat Min coasted past a static Singapore defense off a pass from Min Thu.
Min Thu got on to the scoresheet himself two minutes later when his free kick from 30m out sailed past everyone in the box and dipped into the goal.
But a blunder by Myanmar's defense allowed Singapore to draw level five minutes before halftime.
Noh Alam Shah put Singapore ahead when he scored after some fine work by Casmir in the 63rd minute.
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