Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has avoided disciplinary action from UEFA after sarcastically clapping in the referee’s face following their 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

Ferdinand was unhappy with Cuneyt Cakir’s decision to send off Luis Nani in the 56th minute of the game, after a high challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa.

The score at the time was 1-0 to United, and Madrid got two quick goals through Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo to seal a 3-2 victory on aggregate.

Ferdinand unleashed his anger on the referee at full time, but after evaluating the referee’s report of the game, UEFA have decided not to take any further action.

Case closed

“From the report we have received from the referee we will not take any action apart from the disciplinary proceedings against Manchester United for the red card of Nani and for post-match media obligations not being fulfilled,” said a UEFA spokesman, according to Sky Sports.

UEFA’s awarding body will also have to decide whether Nani’s challenge is worthy of more than just the automatic one-match ban.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson could also be in trouble for refusing to speak to the media after the game, which breaches the UEFA rules.

No United player was sent to be interviewed either, which again breaks competition rules.