Villas-Boas lands FA charge after referee outburst

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has been charged with improper conduct following comments about referee Chris Foy after his team’s 1-0 defeat at QPR last month.

Villas-Boas admitted he was “very aggressive” with Foy after accosting him post-match at Loftus Road, and accused the official who sent off two of his players off if failing to treat the teams equally. A statement from the Football Association confirmed: “Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has been charged with improper conduct by the FA, following media comments he made about the match official after his side’s match at Queens Park Rangers on 23 October 2011.

“Villas-Boas has until 4pm on 15 November 2011 to respond to the charge.”

The 34-year-old, in his first season at the Stamford Bridge helm, has been less than impressed by some decisions against his team, even going so far as calling referees’ chief Mike Riley to complain about the performance of the officials in Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League defeat at Manchester United. He was also critical of decisions in their draw at Stoke. Speaking after the defeat at QPR, Villas-Boas said: “The ref was poor, very very poor. And it reflected in the result. I spoke to him at the end and I was very aggressive to him. I don’t care if he’s okay or not. Everyone can have a bad day, but this was not a bad day for us. It was a good day for us and a bad day for the referee.”

The Chelsea manager added: “Three of the games played by Chelsea were influenced by the referee, and this is not Premier League level.”