Dyke brushes off Chelsea complaints

28 February 2015 17:16

Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has brushed off Chelsea's criticism after the governing body's decision to ban Nemanja Matic for two matches.

Chelsea said they were "appalled" by the FA's decision to ban Matic for pushing Burnley's Ashley Barnes while taking no action against the Clarets player for his challenge on the Serbian midfielder.

Jose Mourinho claimed the FA "lose credibility" by making such decisions, but Dyke responded by saying: "I don't get involved in the politics that goes on in the game. Managers say all sorts of things either through disappointment or to get tactical advantage.

"I don't take it too seriously. If you think you've got something wrong, you should do something about it, but I don't think you should get involved in the week-to-week politics of football.

"We have seen it before and I have no doubt we will see it again. They followed the rules. Did the referee see the incident? He says yes. He decided not to take action. That's his decision. Therefore we had no part under our existing rules of getting involved with that because the referee had seen it and decided not to take action.

"Are we going to re-look at the rules? Not on the basis of one. Over time? Maybe."

Mourinho, who has complained about a perceived 'campaign' against Chelsea this season, said on Friday ahead of the Capital One Cup final against Tottenham: "Strong credibility - this is something English football cannot lose. You lose credibility when a player like Matic is suspended, and another player can play this weekend.

"I don't think you can have any doubt that all around the world people open their mouths with surprise at how this can be possible."

Source: PA