Ramires' Suspension Adds to Chelsea Woes After the FA Punish Him Alongside Mourinho and Faria

Chelsea midfielder Ramires has been charged by the Football Association (FA) alongside manager Jose Mourinho and assistant manager Rui Faria, following their misconduct during the match against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on 19 April.

Ramires was recorded by the camera swinging his arm at Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson in an off-the-ball incident, which went unnoticed by referee Mike Dean. The FA has charged the Brazilian international retrospectively of violent conduct, which could see the midfielder serve a four-match ban as this would be deemed his second red card of the campaign, thus ending his Premier League campaign.

The FA's statement read, "The FA has charged three members of Chelsea's staff following their fixture against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on 19 April 2014."

"Chelsea midfielder Ramires has been charged for violent conduct following an off-the-ball incident that was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. Ramires was involved in an incident with Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson in the 42nd minute of the fixture.

"In the Premier League, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by The FA to review it and advise what, if any, action they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time."

"In this case the panel were unanimous that it was an act of violent conduct. Ramires has until 6pm on Thursday 24 April to respond to the charge."

In the post-match interview, Mourinho's comments were perceived to be sarcastic about referee Dean and also about the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) general manager, Mike Riley.

The FA's statement on the Portuguese tactician said, "Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct in respect of post-match comments he made following the fixture."

"It is alleged that Mourinho's comments constitute improper conduct, in that they call into question the integrity of the referee appointed to the above fixture and/or the integrity of Mr Mike Riley, General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, and/or the comments bring the game into disrepute."

"Mourinho has until 6pm on Monday 28 April to respond to the charge."

Gus Poyet's side won the match 2-1 courtesy of a penalty from Fabio Borini after Jozy Altidore was fouled inside the box. Faria was furious about the referee's decision to award the penalty and had allegedly thrown a tirade of verbal abuses.

Despite being held back by Mourinho, Faria had not stopped venting his anger at Dean and his fellow officials and the FA have charged him on two counts of misconduct, which has been deemed as "a non-standard case due to the aggressive and/or threatening and/or serious nature of the reported behaviour."

Mourinho and Faria are likely to be fined and handed touchline bans for Chelsea's remaining three fixtures till the end of the season.