Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho fined £25,000 for 'clear campaign' against Blues claim

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been fined £25,000 by the Football Association for claiming there is a "clear campaign" to influence referees against his side.

Mourinho's comments followed December's 1-1 draw with Southampton when he described an incident where Cesc Fabregas was booked for diving as a "scandal".

The Portuguese coach also complained of a "campaign" by "people, pundits, commentators and coaches from other teams" against his Chelsea side.

The FA have since confirmed Mourinho has denied a charge of improper conduct but his comments have been judged to have brought the game into disrepute following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.

A statement read: "The Chelsea manager denied that comments he made after the game against Southampton on 28 December 2014 constituted improper conduct in that they alleged and/or implied bias on the part of a referee or referees, and/or brought the game into disrepute.

"The Independent Regulatory Commission found the comments were a breach of FA Rule E3 in that they were improper and brought the game into disrepute. The Commission did not, however, find that the comments implied bias on the part of a referee or referees."

Mourinho was also handed a formal warning for his comments ahead of Chelsea's 2-0 win over Stoke City on 22 December where he urged referee Neil Swarbrick to produce a "strong performance" at the Britannia Stadium.

Speaking after his side's 1-0 League Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool on Tuesday 27 January, Mourinho also hit out against fresh criticism aimed at striker Diego Costa.

The Spain international was involved in two separate alleged stamping incidents during the game at Stamford Bridge only for his manager to leap to his defence, accusing a "certain television pundit" of leading a new campaign against his player.

Mourinho told a post-match press conference: "I don't know what you understand by stamp. I think maybe you are already influenced by... I'm going to use a word which puts me in trouble but I think this time I cannot be punished to say that there is a campaign on the television with a certain pundit that is saying Diego Costa [commits] 'crimes'. This guy must be nuts."