Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore hints Manchester United will not be fined for fielding weakened side against Blackpool

Richard Scudamore, Premier League Chief Executive (PA)

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Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has said that Manchester United will not be fined if they field a weakened side against Blackpool.

With the Champions League final against Barcelona just over a week away, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he will rest some of his key players before the match at Wembley.

Their opponents, Blackpool, are involved in a five-way scrap for survival and were themselves fined for making several changes before a match against Aston Villa earlier this season, where they conceded late on to lose 3-2.

At the time, manager Ian Holloway said he would offer his resignation if his team were fined, although chairman Karl Oyston said he would not accept it.

Wolves, another sides battling against relegation, suffered the same fate as Blackpool when they were fined for fielding a weakened side last year, ironically at Old Trafford, the venue for Sunday’s match.

Wolves owner Steve Morgan has also said this week that he expects United to be fined, although his manager, Mick McCarthy distanced himself from the rhetoric.

And United themselves have been criticised by Neil Warnock, who was outraged that they put out many of their back-up players in the match at home to West Ham on the final day a few seasons ago, which the Hammers won to relegate his Sheffield United side.

United also put out a young side against Hull the following year and won 1-0, although their opponents survived.

Talking to Sky Sports News, Scudamore said he could not envisage fining United.

“We don’t need to remind clubs of the rule,” he said. “The clubs are extremely professional. We’ve only applied the team strength rule twice in the last two years.

“There won’t be wholesale changes in order to threaten the integrity of the competition, I’m sure of that.

“I don’t think we’ll be considering scrapping the rule. There is a lot of flexibility. We don’t sit here at the Premier League and second-guess managers in terms of who their strongest teams are.

“When somebody chooses to put 10 out they’ve not put out before, and then the following week drop those 10 and go back to the previous 10 for a single match, we think that is what the rule is designed to stop. It’s an extreme case.

“It’s not meant to stop teams deciding to change six, seven, eight or even evolve squads or evolve teams.

“It’s not us that makes the rule. The clubs have made the rule, the 20 clubs have sat around and considered the rule, they have made the rule, we have applied it.”

Earlier this week, Holloway suggested that the Premier League would like to see Blackpool relegated, but Scudamore quickly dismissed the idea and highlighted how the body had helped the club make the transition to top flight football.

He added: “That’s absolute nonsense. We, more than anybody, would be delighted if they stayed up.

“Ian has provided endless entertainment, when others may have been somewhat reticent and shy to go in front of the cameras.

“Infrastructurally, they weren’t geared, really, to the demands of Premier League football, but we’ve worked with them, they’ve improved a lot of that stuff and there is still some work to be done.

“There is a conversation that has gone on and, when the season is over, Ian and my general secretary Mike Foster have agreed they are going to sit down, talk through any issues they may have and we will deal with it properly.”