Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho handed FA charge after claiming 'clear campaign' against Blues

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association for claiming there is a "clear campaign to influence referees" against his side.

His comments came after his side's 1-1 draw with Southampton on 28 December 2014.

The Blues manager was left outraged after an incident in which midfielder Cesc Fabregas was denied a penalty.

He has until 6pm on 13 January to respond to the charge.

A statement from the FA read: "It is alleged his remarks constitute improper conduct in that they allege and/or imply bias on the part of a referee or referees and/or bring the game into disrepute."

Mourinho did however escape punishment for his comments made before his side's 22 December clash with Stoke City, where he spoke at length about his expectations of how referee Neil Swarbrick should approach the match.

A statement said: "The FA has also reviewed pre-match comments made by Mr Mourinho on December 19 2014 prior to Chelsea's game against Stoke City and, having sought his observations on this matter, decided not to bring a disciplinary charge and instead issued him with a formal warning.

"The FA prohibit participants from making any pre-match media comments including comments of a positive nature concerning the appointed match officials for a particular fixture."

Mourinho called for Swarbrick to "understand what is aggressivity" ahead of his side's visit to the Britannia, where Chelsea won 2-0.