Furious Kompany branded ref ‘cheat’
RAGING Burnley boss Vincent Kompany called referee Darren England a ‘f****** cheat’ after he gave Chelsea a penalty in a tempestuous clash between the sides, the FA charges against the Belgian revealed yesterday. Kompany repeated the slur ‘multiple times’, including after the official gave him a red card, then caused a delay to the game before he headed down the tunnel at Stamford Bridge on March 30. Kompany has been fined £10,000 and handed a two-match touchline ban — one of them suspended. Tempers flared after referee England awarded a penalty to Chelsea in the 40th minute for Lorenz Assignon’s foul on Mykhailo Mudryk. The Burnley defender was also shown a second yellow card. In the written reasons published yesterday, assistant referee James Bell said: ‘Following the award of a penalty to Chelsea, (Kompany) reacted angrily by moving out of his technical area, throwing his arms aggressively and shouting at the referee. ‘As the decision was being checked, I attempted to use members of his technical area staff to calm him down but Mr Kompany persisted in insulting the referee by pointing towards him and calling him “a f****** cheat” numerous times. ‘Despite the attempts to calm him down Mr Kompany then entered the field of play, briefly, again gesturing towards the referee and shouting, “You’re a f****** cheat”. As Darren came over to issue the red card Mr Kompany again said, “F****** cheat”.’ Kompany admitted the charge and attended the hearing not ‘to justify his behaviour but to apologise personally’.
His solicitor said the incident was out of character and that the ‘red mist had overtaken him’.