Conte escapes touchline ban and will pay £8,000 fine
The Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, will avoid a touchline ban after he was sent to the stands on Wednesday for shouting in the face of fourth official Lee Mason and will instead accept a fine of £8,000 from the Football Association.
The Italian was ordered out the dugout in the first half of Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Swansea City for complaining too aggressively to Mason at what he saw as time-wasting tactics by the away team. He was charged with misconduct by the FA and, should he accept the measure by the deadline of 6pm on Tuesday, he will only be fined the regulation amount.
Conte has been given a standard charge because he is not regarded as a repeat offender and this is seen as his first transgression in the English game. Arsene Wenger was given a four-match touchline ban in January for an altercation which ended with him appearing to push the fourth official Anthony Taylor during Arsenal’s home game against Burnley.
Jose Mourinho was spared a touchline ban in September when he was sent off for having encroached on the pitch during a game against Southampton at St Mary’s – in that case it was felt his offence only merited a standard charge. The Manchester United manager has long claimed he is harshly dealt with by referees and the FA, and he may yet have a view on the referee Paul Tierney’s treatment of Pep Guardiola celebrating Raheem Sterling’s winner for Man- chester City on the pitch on Wednesday. Conte will be in the home dugout against Newcastle United tomorrow when former Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez returns to Stamford Bridge.
Conte said on Wednesday night that he had apologised to referee Neil Swarbrick and his officials immediately after the game and there is little prospect of the Italian contesting the charge. “I apologised for what happened during the game,” Conte said. “I saw that Swansea were wasting time and I said this to the fourth official. At the same time I didn’t see that anything changed.”
Conte’s players still have nine games until the turn of the year. “We have to cope with the situation. No one can play every three days even if we want to,” Cesc Fabregas told the Evening Standard. “If you keep playing, you will keep carrying knocks so it is good to have a break sometimes and come back fresher.
“To know that the team is performing and winning without Eden [Hazard] really being involved is very good,” he added. “Beating Swansea has kept the momentum going. In this period of the year it is just important to keep getting the three points.”