Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is understood to have requested a personal hearing over his charge for entering the field of play at Villa Park.
Mourinho was levelled with a charge over ‘improper conduct’ by the FA after he entered the field of play and approached referee Chris Foy his sides defeat at Villa Park on March 15th.
On the day, Mourinho was sent to the stands following red cards for Willian and Ramires and had until Monday, 24th of March to contest the charges put up against him.
Mourinho claimed that he wanted to speak for “just five seconds” with Foy and argued that he had been unfairly treated by the Football Association, as Villa manager Paul Lambert and a number of his substitues also entered the field of play in this moment.
Jose Mournho denies these allegations and, according to Sky Sports, has requested a personal hearing with the FA to discuss the issue over his charge further and in person.
He claimed he was simply trying to calm the tempers of his players following Ramires’ red card in a game that frustrated Chelsea fans, players and staff as a number of decisions went against the London side.
He also stated he simply wanted to, in a calm manner, enquire as to why Villa substitute Agbonlahor had not been punished for entering the field of play and approaching Ramires following his sending off.
The Chelsea manager claimed during post-match that he also tried to speak with referee Foy for, again, “just five seconds” but he was again turned away, which clearly frustrated the Chelsea manager.
Somewhat sensibly, however, Mourinho refused to comment much further on the referee in an attempt to stay clear of any further FA punishment.
Jose Mourinho did, however, hint at the fact that he blamed Foy for the loss that put Manchester City in the driving seat to go on and win the title:
“Can we play against Aston Villa again? No. The momentum was broken last Saturday. Somebody broke the momentum”
The official post regarding the charges from the FA issued on March 19th can be found here.
