Nuno Espirito Santo given £25,000 fine and warned over future conduct after breach of FA Rule E3 following defeat to Burnley in December; Nuno admitted improper conduct after being charged by FA; Wolves boss initially refused to apologise for post-match comments regarding referee Lee Mason
Wednesday 6 January 2021 17:37, UK
Nuno Espirito Santo has been fined £25,000 for his criticism of referee Lee Mason after Wolves' 2-1 defeat at Burnley.
In his post-match interview following the match on December 21, the Wolves head coach said decided to vent his frustration in Mason's direction, questioning whether the referee is up to the job of officiating Premier League football.
He told Sky Sports: "Honestly I don't like to say it, but I must say it because I will not feel right: the referee does not have the quality to whistle a game in the Premier League.
"This is a problem that we knew. We already had Lee Mason before. It is not about the crucial mistakes or the decisions, it is about the way that he handles the game.
"The players get nervous. Too much voices. He whistles by the voices when some players shout. He does not have [it]. We are talking about the best competition and clearly he does not have the quality to whistle the game.
"I am very disappointed to say this, really disappointed to say it, but I would not feel right if I did not say it. It happened before."
Nuno later refused to apologise to Mason, saying: "I will apologise for my timing. But I will not apologise for my words and my thoughts."
In addition to the fine, Nuno has also been warned as to his future conduct for a breach of FA Rule E3.
The head coach admitted comments he made during a post-match interview constitute improper conduct as they were personally offensive to the match official and brought the game into disrepute, contrary to FA Rule E3.1.
Nuno also requested a personal hearing and an independent Regulatory Commission was appointed to decide the sanction.