Mourinho had said referee was ‘afraid’ to give Chelsea a penalty
• Time is right ‘to stop with my opinions and not to add more’
Chelsea are to lodge an appeal against the punishment meted out to José Mourinho by the Football Association for suggesting referees are “afraid” to make decisions in his side’s favour, comments made after the defeat by Southamptonthis month.
Mourinho was fined £50,000 and handed a suspended one-match stadium ban, effectively acting as a 12-month good-behaviour bond, with the sanction to be imposed if he is found guilty of another breach of FA rules relating to comments made to or through the media before 13 October 2016. The manager has sincedescribed the fine, imposed on Wednesday, as “a disgrace” and the potential accompanying ban as “absolutely astonishing”.
Although he and Chelsea had not contested the improper conduct charge, they were taken aback by the severity of the punishment. The written reasons for the FA’s decision were received on Thursday and Mourinho, having studied the text, has decided to appeal. “I have to be honest with myself, that’s the most important thing,” said the Portuguese after confirming the appeal will be lodged. “I think, at the moment, we have got the written reasons and I decided to appeal. So it’s the moment to stop with my opinions and not say anything more than I did already. I was very objective in my sadness facing the situation.”
Mourinho was asked whether the deterioration of his relationship with the FA could potentially hamper any ambitions he may have in the future of taking up the reins of the England national team. “Maybe I am naive, and I know that ‘naive’ [is a word] I can use, but, for me, English football and English football fans, the English passion for the game, what makes me like so much this country and the football in this country … that is not the FA,” he said. “It’s the people. If, one day, I have to work for that people, I will.”
Chelsea face Aston Villa on Saturday with Branislav Ivanovic hamstrung and Mourinho, who is expected to start Ruben Loftus-Cheek in midfield, considering a number of options to replace the Serb at right-back. “I have four solutions,” he said. “I have Azpilicueta. I have the adaptation of Zouma or Ramires. And I have Ola Aina, a 19-year-old who has never played a game in the Premier League, but a boy with lots of potential. And he’s also an option. It depends on the match, on the opponents, on our moment. But we have solutions.”
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