Nuno Espirito Santo charged by the FA for criticising Premier League referee

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been charged by the Football Association on Thursday after he said referee Lee Mason was not good enough for the top flight following a 2-1 defeat at Burnley last week.

Nuno said he had problems with how Mason handles games and accused him of being unable to control players. The Portuguese manager also refused to apologise for his comments.

“Nuno Espirito Santo has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to their Premier League match against Burnley,” the FA said in a statement.

“It is alleged that comments made by the head coach during a post-match interview constitute improper conduct as they were personally offensive to the match official and/or bring the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1.”

Under the rule, a manager can be charged for post-match comments if they “imply bias, attack the officials’ integrity or which are personally offensive in nature”.

The FA said Santo has until Jan. 5 to respond to the charge.

Wolves are 12th in the standings and next travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

©Reuters