Patrick Vieira has claimed decisions against Manchester City are getting "amplified" and said he is now questioning whether "people don't want us to win the league".

GettyImagesManchester City have seen both Vicent Kompany and Mario Balotelli handed lengthy suspensions

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City, who hold a two-point lead at the top of the table, have been in hot water with the FA in recent times, and Vieira believes they have been punished unfairly.

Skipper Vincent Kompany received a four-match ban for his tackle on Nani in the FA Cup tie with Manchester United last month, and Mario Balotelli was then handed the same suspension for his perceived stamp on Tottenham's Scott Parker later in January.

Vieira, who is now an executive and ambassador at the Etihad Stadium, is growing concerned over the way in which the league leaders are being treated.

He told The Sun: "I don't want to think about it because I don't want to say that everyone is against City or anything like that but, when you look at the last few decisions, you are asking yourself if something is wrong here, if people don't want us to win the league.

"We try our best to win the league, we accept our punishment, but when you look what is happening to the other ones, that makes us as a football club really frustrated. The one for Kompany was one of the harshest decisions I've ever seen in the last few months."

Part of the reason Vieira feels so aggrieved is that he believes players from other teams are not being sanctioned to the same degree. Liverpool's Glen Johnson escaped punishment for a two-footed lunge on Joleon Lescott in last month's Carling Cup encounter, while Spurs' Benoit Assou-Ekotto got away with an over-the-ball tackle on Wigan's Franco Di Santo. Chelsea's Frank Lampard was let off for a similar incident, and the FA review panel did not act on an eye-gouging incident involving Peter Crouch.

"Frank Lampard's tackle looked dangerous compared to Vincent's. Crouch, when he put his finger in the eye of another player, looked bad as well," Vieira added. "It felt like that anything that City will do will be amplified and we get punished, compared to the other teams and the other players.

"When you see the last few decisions and everything is against us, compared to the other ones. It seems like if you have one referee you get one decision but if you have a different referee the decision may also be different. It's difficult to understand some decisions compared to the decisions we had. I think this is what brings the confusion. The confusion is dangerous for our game."

Vieira says if he were still playing he would struggle to cope with the tougher policing of tackling in today's game.

He said: "Ten years ago the game was much more physical than it is now. I remember the tackles that were happening when I was playing for Arsenal.

"If that one for Vincent was a red card there would have been a sending off in every game I played for Arsenal. Now it looks like you cannot tackle anymore. The refereeing body has to be really careful to not kill the passion of the game."

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