By Matt Barlow
Last updated at 1:52 AM on 11th August 2009

The Football Association are scrutinising Manchester United’s reaction to Frank Lampard’s controversial Community Shield goal in what is proving to be an instant test of their latest attempt to protect officials from intimidation.

Patrice Evra, Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher and Antonio Valencia were among several United players who protested noisily to referee Chris Foy about his decision to play on when Michael Ballack blocked Evra with a body check before Lampard’s strike.

FA rules state clubs can be charged with failing to control their players if ‘three or more’ players approach the referee ‘in a confrontational manner’.

Last season, an incident had to be recorded in the referee’s report before action could take place. But the rules have been tweaked and the FA can now charge a club with the offence, regardless of whether it is in the referee’s report. The change is
designed to take the onus away from officials and two of the biggest clubs in the country clashed at Wembley to supply a high-profile test case.

Television pictures certainly show ‘three or more’ United players rush at Foy after Lampard fired Chelsea 2-1 up in a game they won on penalties.

Foy did not record it in his match report and the FA must now decide whether the behaviour can be construed as intimidation or harassment.

A decision can be expected today and although it seems unlikely that United will be formally charged, a letter may be sent to Old Trafford reminding them of their responsibilities.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been proud of his team’s onfield behaviour ever since Roy Keane led an unruly mob of United players across the pitch in pursuit of referee Andy D’Urso when he gave Middlesbrough a penalty nearly a decade ago.

Ferguson will escape a charge despite striding on to the pitch at full time to talk to Foy and despite comments which questioned the referee’s performance and accused Ballack of feigning injury to halt play earlier in the game.

Similarly, Ballack will not be retrospectively charged with his challenge on Evra, which Ferguson claimed was a red card offence. The FA accept Foy’s explanation that he saw the incident and chose not to blow the whistle, even though the Chelsea player later confessed to a foul.

‘I have to be happy that the referee didn’t blow because maybe I blocked him a little bit,’ said Ballack. ‘If the referee gives a foul it would have been OK as well but he decided not to. It was a bit unlucky because they conceded the goal.

‘I did not know he was down. I kept on playing so I couldn’t see how injured he was.’

Last night, the FA sought to clarify the rules regarding injured players and explain why they now encourage players not to kick the ball out of play so someone can receive treatment.

‘Play should continue until the referee stops the game,’ said an FA spokesman.

‘When the referee believes an injury is serious, he can stop play immediately. If the referee believes a player is only slightly injured then he will allow play to continue until the ball is out.

‘Historically, players have kicked the ball out for opponents or team-mates to receive treatment. The expectation had then been for the ball to be returned to the team which kicked the ball out. However, this led to inconsistencies. For clarity, the guidance is for players to let the referee decide when to stop the game.’