Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson have agreed cease hostilities following pleas from their own clubs, the FA, and even the police force.
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein and United chief executive David Gill told Premier League officials during a meeting on Thursday that the public feud would end.
In a statement, the Premier League said Dein and Gill had “arrived at the meeting having already received assurances from their managers that public comments on recent issues between them cease”.
Looking ahead to February 1, when the two clubs next meet, it said: “Both clubs also agreed that public comments would be limited to pre- and post-match analysis of the forthcoming fixture.
“The board is keen to stress that their concern related to the personal nature of recent exchanges and would never seek to restrict the huge interest generated for one of the season’s most attractive fixtures.”
Relations between Ferguson and Wenger, who have never seen eye-to-eye, have become sttrained in recent weeks, with the two trading insults.
The recent trouble started after United ended Arsenal’s record 49-match unbeaten league run with a controversial 2-0 victory at Old Trafford. Ferguson latewr claimed that one of the Arsenal players threw food at him in the tunnel at the end of the game.
