Mourinho must wait on FA decision

CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho must wait to discover his fate as the FA weigh up whether to charge him with inciting the crowd with his controversial Carling Cup final gesture.

However, he has already received the backing of the League Managers’ Association, with vice-chairman Frank Clark insisting his actions were “fairly innocuous“.

Mourinho was asked to leave the pitchside after raising his finger to his lips when Steven Gerrard’s late own goal equaliser enabled Chelsea to go on and secure an extra-time victory.

The Chelsea boss apologised but insisted his gesture was aimed at media critics, who were on the other side of the stadium, rather than the thousands of Liverpool fans, who were sitting just behind him.

The FA were yesterday studying the official match report from referee Steve Bennett, who has already confirmed that details of the incident would be included.

The FA could now ask Mourinho for his observations, issue him with a warning or charge him and, if found guilty, hit him with a fine or a touchline ban.

Clark nevertheless insisted: “Was that gesticulation? All I saw was Jose put his fingers to his lips and I thought it was fairly innocuous.

“Obviously someone in a position of authority thought differently but it didn’t seem very provocative to me.”

Mourinho had claimed that he was ordered to move from the touchline by a police officer, who was understood to have been worried by the public order implications of his gesture.

However, South Wales Police yesterday made it clear that the decision was ultimately taken by the fourth official, Phil Crossley, and this could actually help Mourinho’s cause.

Mourinho has already denied one FA misconduct charge after accusing Man United players of “cheating” in their Carling Cup semi-final first-leg tie and a personal hearing is set to take place next month.

Meanwhile double Carling Cup winner Damien Duff has taunted title rivals Man United and warned the Old Trafford outfit their psychological tricks will not work.

Alex Ferguson and the rest of his side have spent the last fortnight attempting to undermine Chelsea, by claiming the Blues are not playing well and casting doubt over their ability to complete the championship course.

“There is only one place I wanted to be at the weekend and it wasn’t playing a league game,” scoffed Duff.

“I wanted to be at the Millennium Stadium and if you asked United they would have liked to be picking up a trophy too.

“United keep saying we are not playing well but it didn’t look to me as though they performed at their best on Saturday.

“Besides, we are still grinding out results even if our football is not the prettiest. That speaks volumes for the squad.

“Everyone has built us up during the season, now they are trying to knock us down but we seem to be doing okay so far.

“We have one trophy in the bag. We are also six points clear in the Premiership with a game in hand and confident of holding the advantage.”