The interview, published on the united.no website last Thursday but since taken down, had Ferguson quoted as saying United had submitted an offer for the Tottenham striker.

That prompted Spurs to report United to the Premier League, which in turn led Ferguson to deny making the comments which quickly reached the English media.

Ferguson claimed the outcome of the complaint would be "very embarrassing" for the London club "because they are basing their complaint on quotes from a newspaper that were never from me".

The supporters' club branch webmaster Steinar Madsen told Norwegian newspaper Aftonposten: "We are to blame in the sense how the interview was presented. Ferguson didn't mention the name Berbatov when he was interviewed by us.

"I would call it a misunderstanding. It was tricky conditions for the interview."

Madsen added: "Ferguson confirmed that United had tabled an offer. We assumed it was Berbatov he was talking about. We might have taken it too far."