Thursday 4 December 2014 18:37, UK
Stoke chairman Peter Coates has been found guilty of improper conduct over criticism of referees.
Coates has been fined £5,000, warned as to his future conduct and ordered to pay £1,500 towards the cost of the hearing for comments that "alleged and/or implied bias on the part of referees and/or brought the game into disrepute."
The incident occured when, while speaking to local paper the Sentinel last month after a series of matches where Stoke felt they had been badly treated, Coates said: "We feel we don't always get fair treatment and that is all we are asking for.
"There does seem to be a bias towards other teams. You always feel that because we have a good crowd that gets behind the team, referees seem to think, 'I will show them who's in charge here'."
Coates denied the charge and requested a personal hearing, where he was found guilty by the independent regulatory commission.
“I’m annoyed by it, really, I thought it was completely unnecessary, and disappointed, but there you are, they’ve done it and I went because I was annoyed and disappointed,” Coates told Sky Sports News HQ.
“I don’t think I should have been charged and I don’t agree with the commission’s findings.”
Stoke manager Mark Hughes believes Coates has been hard done by, and said he was surprised the chairman was charged in the first place.
He said: "We've had the FA over and the referee's body. I know for a fact he's never questioned their integrity and he reserves the right to have his opinion. It's something that could've been dealt with in a different way.
"When it gets to appeal stage, it's very rare it goes against the initial charge. That tells you something."
