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Nuno's £25,000 fine for ref rant following Burnley v Wolves

Nuno Espirito Santo has been fined £25,000 by the FA for his stinging attack on referee Lee Mason following Wolves’ defeat to Burnley.

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Nuno Espirito Santo the head coach / manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers speaks with Referee Lee Mason at full time (AMA)

Wolves were beaten by Sean Dyche’s side at Turf Moor on December 21 with Nuno saying post-match that Mason “is not good enough” to officiate in the Premier League.

“The referee does not have the quality to whistle a game in the Premier League,” The boss said at the time.

“This is a problem that we knew – we had Lee Mason before.”

At a press conference on December 23 Nuno then refused to apologise for his comments but admitted they constituted improper conduct.

“I will apologise on my timing, but I won’t apologise for my words and thoughts,” he said

As well as being fined for his comments, Nuno has also been warned about his future conduct.

The 46-year-old requested a personal hearing, with an independent commission deciding his remarks were personally offensive to Mason and brought the game into disrepute.

Under FA rules, post-match comments criticising the performance of an official are allowed unless they imply bias, attack the official’s integrity, are personally offensive, prolonged, or particularly unreasonable.