Chelsea's Mourinho denies Football Association misconduct charge

(REUTERS) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho denied on Monday a Football Association (FA) charge of misconduct and requested a non-personal hearing in relation to comments made after his side's shock defeat against Sunderland on April 19.

The FA said a date for the hearings of Mourinho and assistant coach Rui Faria, who has admitted two charges of misconduct and also requested a non-personal hearing, had yet to be set.

Mourinho sarcastically congratulated referee Mike Dean and Mike Riley - the head of the refereeing body - after the 2-1 defeat against relegation-threatened opponents which ended Mourinho's 77-game unbeaten league record at Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese, whose side are second overall and still in the title chase, described Dean's performance as "unbelievable" and "fantastic" before suggesting Chelsea had been continually disadvantaged in the title race by refereeing decisions.

"Congratulations to Mike Riley, because he's the referees' boss," Mourinho had said. "What they are doing during the whole season is fantastic, especially in the last couple of months, especially in matches involving the teams that were in the title race - it's absolutely fantastic."

Rui Faria was sent to the stand after he confronted Dean following the referee's awarding of Fabio Borini's match-winning penalty.

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