Howard Webb denies Man United bias
He was considered England's top referee and given the honour of officiating the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa.
Even though he's done with refereeing, Howard Webb has found it hard to get away from accusations of being biased towards Manchester United.
The Yorkeshire-born former policeman has been the target of opposition fans who have long questioned his allegiance and joked about it.
Even former Liverpool player Ryan Babel called his objectivity into question when he tweeted a mock photo of Webb in a United shirt.
The 43-year-old - now a technical director with the body that oversees England's match officials - has now broken his silence on the matter and rubbished claims that he favoured United while refereeing their matches.
Webb was quoted in several UK media outlets saying: "There's no element of truth in it (being biased towards United). I's not something that affected me or played on my mind at all.
Wasn't hurtful
"It wasn't hurtful. Much of it is tongue-in-cheek, of course.
"What does play on my mind is when I've made a mistake, particularly an influential one that has affected the outcome of a game. I'd be dishonest if I said it didn’t bother me.
"One newspaper listed the five games I’d want to forget over the course of my career. Well, there's more than five. But against the backdrop of more than 500 professional games – I can think of many top professional footballers who have made plenty of mistakes but are still top professional footballers."
Sources: Mail Online, The Guardian
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