Sir Alex Ferguson is considering cutting ties to a £5 million sports project for west Fife, due to not being aware of all the details of the plan.
The Manchester United FC manager had accepted an invitation to become patron of the Norrie McCathie Sports Facility Trust and the strategy for grassroots sport in Fife and beyond.
The trust is a subsidiary of the Norrie McCathie Benevolent Fund, which was set up in memory of the late Dunfermline captain who died from carbon monoxide poisoning on January 8, 1996.
The Alfred Stewart Property Foundation (ASP) aims to build 450 homes at Spencerfield, Inverkeithing, and gift the land at the location to the fund, on which to build a centre of sport excellence.
ASP is the operating company of the Alfred Stewart Trust, which was set up after the developer died in 2008.
Its legacy is to use his estate for the benefit of the people of Dunfermline and west Fife.
The housing plan at Spencerfield was part of the draft local plan but members of Fife Council’s south west committee agreed to refuse the proposal in October and it was then removed.
ASP wants to build 450 homes at the site and displayed their proposals at the Inverkeithing Highland Games at Ballast Park in August.
The foundation said that the “overwhelming” majority of people that attended the exhibition welcomed the benefits the proposals would bring to the local area and responded positively to the opportunities offered.
ASP has threatened to walk away from the proposal if Fife Council don’t pass the plan for the housing development.
Reports had linked Sir Alex, himself a former Dunfermline FC player, with the plans for the sports academy.
It has since been established he was not aware of all the details of the project and will now consider whether to withdraw his patronage due to the controversy it has caused.
His Aberdeen solicitor Les Dalgarno told The Courier he has written to Sir Alex asking him if he will withdraw his patronage, and that he felt he will.
“I think that will be the case due to his name being dragged into a debate on a planning application about which he had no knowledge,” he said.
“He has not said he knew nothing of the sports academy. He just did not know that it was part of a much larger application which would cause controversy in the area.”
ASP spokesman Roano Pierotti said he was disappointed for the Norrie McCathie Benevolent Fund if Sir Alex Ferguson was to withdraw his patronage.
John Wilson, chairman of the Norrie McCathie Sports Facility Trust, said he did not wish to comment on the matter.