Surely calling someone an immigrant is too nonspecific to be a racist term? If he was italian and was called a degrotary word specific to italians or was French or German and was called a specific word then that would be quite rightly classed as racist. But immigrant? What a load of rubbish.

kim, london,

Immigrant! That's an insult? C'mon ladies, put the handbags away.

Julian, Twickenham, UK

Manchester United are never fairly beaten. Call yourselves footie supporters and you don't know that?

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Why the rush to get the pitch ready for the game against Liverpool which was over 4 days away. I can understand the need to put the divots back but why did they need to get the mowers out straight away. Surely they could have waited for an hour and the United players to have finished.

Lorraine, Oxford,

They were asked to move to another part of the pitch as they were warming down on a heavily worn area that the groundsmen had to repair before Wednesday's Champions League game.

They refused...they obviously think their job and time is more important...spoilt footballers? Quelle suprise!

Faye, Brighton,

I can believe that the Chelsea groundsman ws abusive. The same day, I witnessed a bunch of Chelsea fans being abusive to a Seikh as he got off my train. First one of them said "Taliban". Next the same bloke said "we're safe now he's off the train".

Rob H, London,

Alex Ferguson came out piously talking about the need for respect last month. So why is he not fining Rio Ferdinand, Evra, and the rest who showed an utter lack of respect?

Matt Pomroy, Dubai,

If the United lads are fabricating this then they deserve to have the book thrown at them.

I doubt Ferguson and Gill would let this go forward if they had the slightest doubt about the story though.

If the Chelsea Neanderthal did say what they allege, then he should be sacked and Chelsea fined.

Steeley, Manchester,

Should we add the word immigrant to the long list of political correctness.

In fact immigrants to UK should be proud they are not the second class citizens anymore,we are so PC that English working/middle class are.

Vote out Labour ! or move to Australia,and be a British immigrent !!

paul chandler, London,

I imagine similar incidents happened in the past, but never got reported. The all encompassing media coverage nowadays makes these incidents seem bigger than they really are. It was handbags, nobody got hurt and neither party wants to take matters further.

Stuart, Crawley, UK

It was quite clear, from TV coverage, that some of the MU players were 'fuming' at losing the game. Ferdinand in particular went off in a raging temper, kicking the ground and seemingly spoiling for a fight with someone. If he is to be the next Captain of England then Fabio's asking for trouble..

Trevor Dee, Torbay, UK

The only one claiming someone used a racist remark or called him immigrant is Tevez, whose grasp of the language is not great.

In reality, it was the Utd players who over reacted.

Evra has black belts, etc, and all the Utd players were probably p'd they had lost, and they got out of control.

Paul, Toronto, Canada

As usual The Times is way behind everybody else. The cctv film is on youtube and clearly shows the Chelsea groundsman as the aggressor. There was only one punch thrown in the whole incident - by the groundsman - which missed Evra but knocked over a Chelsea steward !! Just a lot of fuss over nothing.

Ian Edwards, Manchester,

Manchester United players have the right guranteed by the football league to warm down on pitch post-match. Mowing the lawn directly after the match prevents them doing this. What are CFC playing at? I can't believe they were not aware of regs. This was a provocation.

scousertommy, republic of merseyside,

Indeed. "Immigrant" hardly seems to be the most obvious way of insulting somebody. Poor old Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini. They must be wondering what they've let themselves in for.

And Rio Ferdinand's attempt to smooth things over with a bouquet of flowers does seem a little lightweight.

peter koeb, geneva, switzerland

This is the 4th time Man. U. have changed their story on the incident in less than 48 hours! They are desperate to avoid any fines as it is obvious they are at fault. I hope the F.A. will rise to the occasion - this time, and serve United a heavy fine.

Kypros Shacolas, Nicosia, Cyprus

If he was insulted, Evra should have remained calm and then shown the groundman the contents of his wallet!
Unfortunately footballers do not posess enough intelligence to be able to handle being insulted, even when they are on 10's of thousands of pounds per week.
They are dullards!

Pete, St Albans, England

FA rules state that players are allowed to use the pitch to warm down, as long as they don't use the goalmouth, and the pictures suggest they weren't. Why is the groundsman trying to throw his weight around and make them move? And he clearly meant immigrant in a racist context - ignorant pig.

Paul, London,

There's a big difference from on the one hand being described as an immigrant, and on the other being called an f'ing immigrant.....

Kevin, London,

Use of the word "immigrant" shows the ignorance of the person using it. The groundsman or whoever said it probably thought they were being insulting, even racist , accompanying it with a profanity to highlight the slur.....pity he's too stupid to reliase his error!!

Mike Thomas, London,

The MU players were courteously asked to move on to another part of the pitch. They refused. CFC groundsman described Evra as "bloody idiot". His "brain" heard "bloody immigrant". Fight ensued. Hope FA throw book at them.

Blue Baby, London,

"Chelsea, both as a club and some of their players believe that they are above the law. The FA fear Abramovitche's wealth and are powerless because of it.

Bryn Garn, Greenwich, "

Where as Manchester United is full of quiet, respectful types? Do be quiet, you're just embarrassing yourself.

Alex, London,

So to call an immigrant an immigrant means he can swing for you does it? I am loosing patience with the FA. Ferdinand kicks a steward and shirt and some flowers smooths it over - how about assault? In you face appeals over the penalty - how about getting the cards out? Sorry its Utd this time. Farce

Al, Newcastle,

Having been racially abused, in some instances horrifically so, I can't see how calling someone an immigrant when they are constitutes racism on any level. You'd call a spade a spade wouldn't you?

Dan, Croydon,

This definitely has to be a joke! I am black and I am an immigrant and every day they call me and thousands of others immigrants on TV, on the radio and on every newspaper. Now, because someone calls him "immigrant" he says they racially abused him. Wow!!!!

M. Paz, London, UK

To John J,

Why would anyone call anyone 'allegedly' a bloody immigrant, if that persons objective wasnt to insult the person.

Being an immigrant isn't such a bad thing unless you live here, then it becomes such a bad thing.

Milton, London,

Why did these "players" need to warm down in the first place? Apart from one of them, they were not even on the bench as substitutes!!!

Alan, Cobham, UK

I did not know Patrick Evra was Polish.

richard block, London, uk

So calling someone "an immigrant" is to now to be classed as racist! What a bloody sad country the Uk is turning into!

John J...Chengdu, Chengdu, China

Why couldn't the Chelsea staff allowed the MU players to warm down at Stamford Bridge? They ought to treat visitors with more respect.

S K Lin, Hong Kong, China

Is it racial abuse to call an immigrant an immigrant?

Zaphod, Presbury, UK

Chelsea, both as a club and some of their players believe that they are above the law. The FA fear Abramovitche's wealth and are powerless because of it.

Bryn Garn, Greenwich,

english clubs,english players,english managers?
what a misnomer!
perhaps there was a problem in communication in english!
as for the melee of players around a referee that is foolishness to allow it to happen, but then it might be good practice for the olympics.

john haydon rowe, javea,