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EPL: Chelsea trio charged by FA after Sunderland loss
Chelsea were hit with disciplinary action by the English FA on Wednesday as manager Jose Mourinho, midfielder Ramires and coach Rui Faria were charged following last week's Premier League home defeat against Sunderland.
Ramires, who could now miss their top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool on Sunday, was hit with a violent conduct charge after appearing to elbow Sunderland’s Sebastian Larsson off the ball.
The incident was not seen by referee Mike Dean during their 2-1 defeat at StamfordBridge.
"In the Premier League, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by The FA to review it and advise what, if any, action they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time," the FA said in a statement.
"In this case the panel were unanimous that it was an act of violent conduct."
Ramires has until Thursday to respond to the charge.
Sunderland's victory came courtesy of a contentious penalty decision that sparked a furious touchline reaction from coach Faria who was charged with using "abusive and/or insulting words towards the Fourth Official" as well as "improper conduct".
Mourinho sarcastically congratulated Dean as well as referee's chief Mike Riley in the immediate aftermath of the match, which landed him with a misconduct charge.
The FA said: "It is alleged that Mourinho’s comments constitute improper conduct, in that they call into question the integrity of the referee appointed to the above fixture and/or the integrity of Mr Mike Riley, General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, and/or the comments bring the game into disrepute."
Mourinho was fined 8,000 pounds ($13,400) and warned about his future conduct as recently as April 10 after being sent to the stands in last month's defeat at Aston Villa.
Both Faria and Mourinho have until Monday to respond to the charges.
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