Manchester United to escape action over Wembley damage

It seems unlikely any action will be taken against Balotelli (REUTERS)

Manchester United will escape any action from the Football Association after a dressing room wall was damaged following their FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley.

A hole was kicked in the wall of the United dressing room after Manchester City had triumphed 1-0 and emergency repairs had to be carried out so the room could be used by Stoke City the following day.

There have been suggestions that the FA would send the repair bill to United or write to the club reminding them of their responsibilities. But according to FA sources a decision has been taken to let the matter lie.

It is also unlikely for there to be any disciplinary action for the incident at the end of Saturday's game when Rio Ferdinand and other United players were involved in an angry confrontation with Mario Balotelli.

Manchester United said it was they who brought the FA's attention to the damage on Saturday night.

A club spokesman said: "We brought it to their attention on Saturday night, we apologised and offered to pay. It was about three inches in diameter and was only surface damage and not a hole."