Chelsea’s head coach Jose Mourinho waves at fans as he talks with his coaching staff after coming back out onto the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Liverpool won the match 3-1. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
LONDON — Already enduring the worst run of results in his Chelsea career, Jose Mourinho will be banned from the stadium for their match at Stoke after being punished by the English Football Association.
Mourinho admitted to a charge of misconduct toward the referee during a loss to West Ham last month and he has already been fined 40,000 pounds ($61,700) by the FA’s regulatory commission.
Mourinho was sent to the stands by the referee against West Ham on Oct. 24, and the FA said the Portuguese coach “admitted an FA charge of misconduct regarding his language and/or behavior towards the match officials in or around the dressing room area during halftime.”
He will serve the one-match stadium ban on Saturday (Sunday Manila time) at Stoke, which ended the London club’s League Cup defense last week. After Saturday’s loss to Liverpool, Mourinho refused to answer questions about refereeing decisions, saying he’d be punished again by the FA if he spoke his mind. That loss was Chelsea’s sixth in the Premier League this season, leaving the defending champions with 11 points from 11 games and sitting in 15th place.
Chelsea is also struggling in the Champions League, going into Wednesday’s game against Dynamo Kiev with only four points from three games and third in its group.
On top of this, Chelsea is feeling the effects of Mourinho’s opening-day outburst toward team doctor Eva Carneiro. Mourinho publicly criticized Carneiro before demoting her, with the club and manager now facing damaging legal action by the aggrieved doctor.
The sanction on Monday marks the second time this season Mourinho has been punished by the FA. The Portuguese was fined 50,000 pounds and given a suspended one-match stadium ban after saying that officials were “afraid” to award his side a penalty following a 3-1 home defeat to Southampton at the start of October.