Villas-Boas stands by referee criticism
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Your support makes all the difference.The Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas, was unrepentant yesterday over his attack on referee Chris Foy after the west London derby, insisting he had done nothing to warrant a Football Association charge.
The FA wrote to Villas-Boas asking for an explanation for his criticism of Foy and the official's two assistants following Sunday's dramatic 1-0 Premier League defeat at Queen's Park Rangers.
Chelsea were also charged with "failure to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" after some of them surrounded Foy when Jose Bosingwa was handed a red card.
The Blues were given until Friday to respond on both counts, after which Villas-Boas could be hit with a charge for accusing the referee of not treating both sides equally and of being "card happy". Villas-Boas admitted on Sunday that he was "very aggressive" with Foy after accosting the official post-match, having watched Bosingwa and Didier Drogba dismissed and seven more players booked at Loftus Road.
That landed Chelsea with an automatic £25,000 fine, which is bound to increase if they are found guilty of yesterday's charge.
Villas-Boas, who claimed referees had been unfair to his side during previous games this season, could also end up fined or even suspended for his post-match outburst. But speaking shortly before the FA announced it was taking action against the Blues, the 34-year-old stood by his words, something that could land him in even more trouble. "I don't think I said anything I should not have," Villas-Boas said.
"I would never question the referee's integrity. But the fact is that, at the moment, we are paying heavily in terms of major decisions.
"Maybe this is what the FA [don't] want to hear from me – phrases like, 'The referee has influenced heavily three of our games'."
Villas-Boas accepted that officials were only "human" but reiterated his attack on what he claimed was inconsistency in Foy's "extremely unfair" decision-making.
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