Warnock fined £20,000 by FA over referee remarks

Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has been fined £20,000 by the Football Association (FA) for comments he made about referee Craig Pawson following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in March.

Warnock was left fuming after goals in the last 10 minutes of the game from Cesar Azpilicueta and Ruben Loftus-Cheek overturned Cardiff’s 1-0 lead and denied the Bluebirds three precious points in their fight against relegation.

Azpilicueta’s goal was allowed to stand despite the Spain international being in an offside position, and Warnock branded Premier League officials “the worst” in his post-match comments.

After finding Warnock guilty of three breaches of FA Rule 3, the FA said in a statement: “Whilst the manager denied three breaches of FA Rule E3, they were subsequently found proven during an independent regulatory commission hearing.

“Comments he made in a post-match interview with the BBC, and a post-match interview with Sky Sports, were found to be improper as they questioned the integrity of the match official and/or implied bias.

“In addition, comments he made in a talkSPORT radio interview on 01/04/2019 were found to constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute.”

Azpilicueta was asked whether he would contribute towards Warnock’s fine, and he told a news conference: “We’ll talk in private about this. I was there in the middle because I was the one who scored the goal.

“In the moment, when I scored, I looked at the linesman and he didn’t put the flag up. I knew I could have been on the edge of the offside position.

“I cannot ignore that I was offside. VAR will come in next season and that will help everybody, the referees, and every team to get the right decisions.

“Sometimes we’ve been punished in the same way. I’m sorry for him. But for the one goal I scored this season.”