Chelsea have backed Jose Mourinho after their manager was sharply criticised by the Football Association for comments about title rivals Arsenal.
Mourinho had taken a swipe on Tuesday at Arsenal's attempt to sign Sevilla forward Julio Baptista and then criticised Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein's membership of the FA Board.
The FA responded on Wednesday by saying it was "extremely disappointed" with the comments, notably over Dein, one of four elected representatives of Premier League clubs on the Board.
"At a time when the football authorities are collectively striving to improve behaviour at all levels of the game, some of those views expressed by Mourinho are unnecessary, unhelpful, bad for the image of the game and inaccurate," the FA said in a statement."
Mourinho, fined 200,000 pounds ($353,400) by the Premier League in June after the 'tapping-up' of Arsenal defender Ashley Cole, was fined 5,000 pounds by the FA in March for using the word "cheat" about Manchester United players after a League Cup semi-final tie.
"We would like to state categorically that Mr Dein does not have any involvement within The FA's Disciplinary or Compliance functions," the FA said.
"It should also be made clear that he is not a member of The FA's Disciplinary Committee."
"If any club or official has any comment or complaint to make about the role of any individual within the game, there are channels available to do this through clubs to the football authorities -- not by individuals in a press conference," it said.
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Chelsea later sprang to Mourinho's defence, saying it was aware of its responsibilities in terms of the game's image, that it did not seek a conflict with the FA or the Premier League and that it would raise any issues via "the appropriate channels".
But the club said in a statement that Chelsea had five away matches in the Premier League after Champions League group games in 2005-06 and then pointed the finger at Arsenal.
ARSENAL COMMENTS
"Over recent months there has been a series of critical comments from Arsenal about key individuals at Chelsea and the club as a whole. These were not isolated incidents.
"Like any club, Chelsea believes it is entitled to defend itself publicly against such criticisms, when appropriate, and is fully supportive of Jose Mourinho when he does so."
Mourinho's original comments included him saying: "Maybe in 2009 or 2010 maybe Mr Dein is not in the FA anymore...I can have a different season..."
Asked what he would like to see change, Mourinho said: "A person who works in a club should not work in the FA."