Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been handed a one-match touchline ban and fined a total of £58,000 by the English Football Association after accepting two misconduct charges.
Life is rarely dull when the Portuguese is at the helm and this week has been no different, resulting in a second misconduct charge in a matter of days.
Mourinho's comments about referee Anthony Taylor ahead of last month's 0-0 Premier League draw at Liverpool brought a £50,000 fine and warning as to his future conduct, but it was Saturday's incident against Burnley that, as expected, led to the hardest blow.
The United boss was sent to the stands by referee Mark Clattenburg as the teams made their way out for the second half of the frustrating goalless draw at Old Trafford.
It led Mourinho to be hit by a misconduct charge on Tuesday and within 24 hours he admitted to using abusive/and or insulting words towards a match official, earning an £8,000 fine and immediate one-match touchline ban for Sunday’s trip to Swansea.
An FA disciplinary statement read: “Jose Mourinho has been fined £50,000 in relation to media comments he made prior to Manchester United’s game at Liverpool on 17 October 2016.
“An Independent Regulatory Commission heard that Mr Mourinho accepted the comments he made on October 14 2016 constituted improper conduct but denied they brought the game into disrepute, in contravention of Rule E3(1).
“The Commission found the disrepute element of the charge proven and as well as being fined, Mr Mourinho was warned as to his future conduct.
“Separate to this, Mr Mourinho will serve an immediate one-match touchline ban after he admitted using abusive and/or insulting words towards a Match Official and accepted the standard penalty.
“The incident happened in or around the tunnel area during halftime of United’s game against Burnley on 30 October 2016.
“As well as the suspension, the standard penalty for this breach of FA Rule E3 also includes an £8,000 fine.”
The confirmation of sanctions came two hours after Mourinho skirted around the subject at United’s press conference previewing Thursday’s Europa League tie at Fenerbahce.
Shaking his head before a question about his latest charge was even finished, he merely said: “No – no reaction.”
When then asked if, more generally, he regretted his behaviour towards match officials this season, or felt hard done by, Mourinho retorted: “Next question.”
Mourinho will take charge of Thursday’s Europa League match in Istanbul as it is out of the FA’s jurisdiction, but will be banned from the touchline at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
The punishment is likely to hinder United on their return to Premier League action at Swansea, but left back Luke Shaw is hopeful it will not be too detrimental to the team.
“It’s always nice to have him on the side because he likes to give information out to especially full backs like me when I am on his side,” he said.
“But of course we get to do what he wants doing the whole week so we’ve got him for the whole week, so there’s no sort of worries if he’s not going to be there.
“We’ll keep strong and if he’s not going to be on the sidelines, we’ve got Rui (Faria, United assistant manager) as well who is another very strong character as well.”
