THE Stadium of Light on Saturday played host to two unsavoury incidents which heap further shame on professional football in this country.

The first was Roy Keane's tenth sending off in a Manchester United shirt.

The second was Sir Alex Ferguson's post-match interview for television.

What the 47,586 people in the crowd witnessed was a wilful act of violent retribution on a fellow professional. There was no surprise at the referee's decision to show the red card.

What Ferguson saw was "an innocuous incident." In front of a TV audience of several millions he spared Keane of any blame, instead preferring to point the finger at the referee and the victim of his captain's assault.

Just like Keane's out-thrust elbow, Ferguson's ridiculous comments bring the game of football into disrepute.

Loyalty can be an admirable quality. But Keane no longer deserves the unconditional and unswerving support of either his club or his manager.

Here is a man who walked out on his country in a childish huff on the eve of the World Cup. And a man who confessed in a book that he deliberately went out to injure another player.

Yet he remains the captain of Manchester United, a role model for the thousands of impressionable children who wear the famous red shirt with pride.

He does not deserve such elevated status.

For the sake of the good name of the club, Ferguson should strip Keane of the captaincy. And for the sake on his own good name he should cease defending the indefensible.

Criticising his own players, rather than blaming the referee, the opposition or the pitch, is a strength, not a weakness.

He was knighted for his services to football. By stubbornly refusing to condemn Keane he does football a great disservice.

Later this week The Football Association is duty-bound to bring charges against Keane for comments in his book and punish him in a way which clearly demonstrates that no player, no matter how talented, is bigger than his club, his country or the game itself.