Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock fined £7k for referee comments after Swansea defeat
Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock fined £7,000 for comments made relating to referee after 2-1 defeat to Swansea City; Warnock joked that Swans head coach Steve Cooper was benefiting from the fact his father Keith was a former match official
Saturday 27 March 2021 11:22, UK
Neil Warnock has been fined £7,000 over his post-match comments following Middlesbrough's controversial Sky Bet Championship defeat at Swansea earlier this month.
Boro, who had earlier seen a Marc Bola strike ruled out, lost the game 2-1 after Swansea forward Andre Ayew converted a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time, his side's second decisive last-gasp spot-kick in four days.
Boro boss Warnock, 72, later joked that Swans head coach Steve Cooper must be benefiting from the fact his father Keith was a former match official, and also predicted he would receive another apology from referees' chief Alan Wiley.
Warnock said after the game: "They can't keep having that much luck with penalties. I don't know if it's Cooper's dad who's influencing this.
"He must have all the numbers. It's the only thing I can think of but, joking apart, they can't keep having decisions like that."
A Football Association statement said: "Neil Warnock has been fined £7,000 following multiple breaches of FA Rule E3 that followed Middlesbrough FC's EFL Championship match against Swansea City FC on Saturday 6 March 2021.
"The manager admitted that comments he made during post-match interviews constituted improper conduct in that they question the integrity of the match official, implied bias, were personally offensive and bring the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1.
"An independent regulatory commission was subsequently convened and imposed an appropriate sanction."
