EPL: Chelsea's Mourinho courts controversy, charged by FA

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been charged with improper conduct for his behaviour during a Premier League game against CardiffCity, the FA said on Monday.

- Eto'o, Mourinho at centre of controversy as Chelsea win

Mourinho was ordered to the stands by referee Anthony Taylor 20 minutes from the end of Saturday's 4-1 win for protesting to the match official after becoming increasingly frustrated at what he perceived to be Cardiff's time-wasting tactics.

Mourinho, who has until 1700 GMT on Thursday to respond to the charge, refused to change his stance on Monday when speaking ahead of his side's Champions League match against Schalke.

"If I was at that game and I was paying my ticket, I would be worried with the fact that every time the ball was out or stopped and our opponent had to put the ball back in the game, it took a minimum of 21.5 seconds," Mourinho said.

"That is a waste of money. You pay your ticket and every time the game stops you have to wait about half a minute? When you multiply that by the number of times the game was stopped ... you pay for 90 minutes but you see 55 or 60."

Mourinho, who faces a fine, spent the final 20 minutes of Saturday's match sitting with the crowd after losing his patience.

"I don't want to say what did or did not happen.

"I just want to know the reason why the referee stopped me doing my work. To be with the fans was not funny. It was not funny. It's frustrating."

Image: Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho gestures as he speaks to Eden Hazard during their English Premier League soccer match against Cardiff City at Stamford Bridge in London, on Saturday

Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters