Revealed: Vincent Kompany called referee Darren England a 'f***ing cheat' multiple times in furious tirade at official after he gave Chelsea a penalty against Burnley in 2-2 draw last month

Raging Burnley boss Vincent Kompany branded referee Darren England 'a f*****g cheat' after he gave Chelsea a penalty in a tempestuous clash between the two sides.

The furious Belgian repeated the slur 'multiple times', said it again when the official gave him a red card and then caused a delay to the game before he headed down the tunnel at Stamford Bridge.

Kompany was fined £10,000 and handed a two-match touchline ban – with one of the games suspended – following the explosive outburst at the March 30 fixture. Tempers flared after referee Darren England awarded a penalty to the Blues in the 40th minute for Lorenz Assignon's foul on Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Burnley defender was also shown a second yellow card, forcing the Clarets to play the second half with 10 men. 

Assistant referee James Bell said: 'Following the award of a penalty to Chelsea in the 40th minute the Burnley Manager (Vincent Kompany) reacted angrily by moving out of his technical area throwing his arms aggressively and shouting at the referee. 

'As the decision was being checked I attempted to use members of his own technical area staff to calm him down but Mr Kompany persisted to insult the referee by pointing towards him and calling him 'a f*****g cheat' numerous times. Despite the attempts to calm him down Mr Kompany then entered the field of play, briefly, again gesturing towards the referee and shouting 'you're a f****** cheat.' I informed the referee (Darren England) that a Stage 2 (red card) sanction was required for the Burnley manager. As Darren came over to issue the red card Mr Kompany again said, 'f*****g cheat.' 

'After his sending off Mr Kompany remained in the technical area for some time causing a delay to the re-start of the game before he eventually made his way down the tunnel.'

Kompany was charged with 'misconduct' and admitted is 'language and/or behaviour' during the game was 'improper and/or abusive and/or insulting towards a match official', as well as questioning the integrity of an official. He admitted the charge and attended the hearing not 'to justify his behaviour but to apologise personally'. 

His solicitor said the incident was out of character and that the 'red mist had overtaken him' and 'he responded emotionally to what he considered to be incorrect decisions made by the Match Referee'.

Burnley sent a letter in support of their boss, stating 'retaining Premier League status is our highest priority at the moment in order to safeguard a more robust future for our players and staff at every level of the club…Whilst we do not want to make excuses for the language used, it is certain that the intense pressure which Mr Kompany is under at this point in the season will have contributed to his outburst at Mr England after the decisions he made following Lorenz's tackle.'

Details of Kompany's tirade come at a time when the treatment of match officials is firmly in the spotlight after Nottingham Forest attacked the integrity of VAR Stuart Attwell following their defeat at Everton.

Both the FA and, in an unusual step, the Premier League are investigating Forest, manager Nuno Espirito Santo defender Neco Williams and refereeing consultant Mark Clattenburg with a hefty fine likely to be handed down. In the aftermath of a potentially damaging 2-0 defeat, which saw three penalty appeals turned down, Forest questioned Attwell's integrity by pointing out that he was a fan of fellow relegation battlers Luton Town.

At Chelsea, Manchester City legend Kompany was sent off for protesting on the touchline and later doubled down on his criticism. 'I'll keep saying what I think,' he said.

'I'm not shying away from it and I've said it to the referees themselves, the officials, refereeing hasn't been good enough this season.

'And I have said that in, I think, a constructive way, understanding as well the fact it's not easy for them. The scrutiny is massive, the pressure is bigger than it's ever been on the officials.

'I think the addition of VAR and more opinions and more officials doesn't make it easy for them to do their jobs.'I haven't got any issues with being fined. I just want it to be right.'

Following the match, which ended 2-2, Kompany visited the officials’ room to ‘apologise as soon as he could’.

He told the hearing his ‘emotional overload was such that he reacted in the wrong way’ and had ‘temporarily lost control’.

Kompany added that he only realised the significance of using the word ‘cheat’ and its questioning of England’s integrity after the outburst.