Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has accepted the FA's charge of misconduct during the draw with Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
Sarri was dispelled from his dugout in the 94th minute of the 2-2 draw against Sean Dyche's side, after repeatedly leaving the confines of his technical area during the clash. He was then reluctant to depart, engaging in a war of words with both the officials and members of the Burnley bench.
Maurizio Sarri has been fined £8,000 after he admitted a misconduct charge from The FA and accepted the standard penalty. It concerned his behaviour in the 94th minute of Monday’s [22/04/2019] game between Chelsea and Burnley in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/R5y6pb1xkS
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) April 25, 2019
The tactician was duly charged by the FA for 'misconduct in relation to his behaviour', which he has now accepted.
In an official statement from the FA Spokesperson on Twitter, the governing body explained:
"Maurizio Sarri has been fined £8,000 after he admitted a misconduct charge from The FA and accepted the standard penalty. It concerned his behaviour in the 94th minute of Monday’s [22/04/2019] game between Chelsea and Burnley in the Premier League."
However, Sarri's assistant, Gianfranco Zola, who was handed the post-game duties by the 60-year-old, revealed that the Italian felt he had been provoked by members of Burnley's backroom staff with alleged xenephobic slurs, with ESPN reporting this came in the form of repeated cries of 'sh*t Italian' aimed at the former Napoli boss.
Speaking on the incident, Zola explained: "He's very frustrated, so he'd prefer not to come over here. He's been sent off. I think he's been offended as well, so he didn't feel it was the right thing to do, to speak to you.
"I think he's been told something from their bench, but don't ask me exactly what. I don't want to go down that line, but we'll see what we can do about that. I think there will be a follow [up] on that. Maurizio felt very unhappy. We understand it's a football game. You say words because of the adrenalin, but he wasn't particularly happy."
The club did indeed lodge a complaint with the match referee, Kevin Friend, with the FA now waiting for Friend's report of the encounter before assessing how to proceed.
Source: 90min
