Sir Alex Ferguson brought a press conference to an abrupt halt after refusing to answer a question about the Alan Wiley affair.

The Manchester United manager was facing the media for the first time since being charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for allegedly questioning the fitness of Premier League referee Wiley.

Ferguson was at an obligatory event in Russia ahead of Wednesday night's Champions League Group B tie against CSKA Moscow when he was asked to comment on the charge.

"Silly question gets no answer," the Scot said. "I'm not answering it.

"We're at a press conference for a game tomorrow. We're here to talk about that."

At that point Ferguson decided to end the press conference, which had already run for 22 minutes, and left the room.

Ferguson caused a media storm with his remarks about Wiley after his side's 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw against Sunderland on October 3.

His indignation towards the media for asking the question came, interestingly, shortly after a tongue-in-cheek comment in which he had attributed his longevity to the British press.

Asked what the secret of his long-lasting success was, Ferguson replied: "The press keep me alive, all my good friends out there. They keep me alive."