Chelsea’s Diego Costa to discover fate over ‘stamp’ on Liverpool’s Emre Can

Diego Costa, left, in action against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg. Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

Chelsea striker Diego Costa is expected to find out what punishment, if any he must serve after being charged with violent conduct by the Football Association for appearing to stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can.

Spain international Costa is facing an immediate three-match ban for what seemed to be his deliberate act of standing on Can’s ankle in the 12th minute of Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea won 1-0 to complete a 2-1 aggregate victory.

The incident was missed by the match officials and reviewed by a video panel on Wednesday.

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Costa was subsequently charged with violent conduct by the FA.

He had until 1800 GMT Thursday to respond and, although there has no been official announcement, British media have reported he is contesting the charge.

In that instance, Costa’s case will go before an independent regulatory commission, whose decision will be binding and with no right of appeal.

As a result, the issue is set to be resolved before Premier League leaders Chelsea face defending champions Manchester City in a key title clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Reaction to the incidents involving Costa and Can and Skrtel dominated the aftermath of Tuesday’s game, which saw Branislav Ivanovic score an extra-time winner.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said the Brazil-born Costa’s challenge on Can was “poor” and could have caused a “nasty” injury.

But Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said the two incidents had been “absolutely accidental” and blamed television pundits for whipping up controversy over what had happened.

Should he banned for three games, Costa would miss the City match and subsequent fixtures with Aston Villa and Everton.

Chelsea, seemingly unwilling to make any further comment about the issue before a decision was reached, cancelled Friday’s pre-match news conference — even though they are obliged to hold one under Premier League rules.

That move came just days after Mourinho was fined £25,000 ($38,000, 34,500 euros) by the FA after he claimed Chelsea were the victims of a media-led “campaign” over diving allegations that was putting referees under pressure.

Cancelling the pre-match press conference could also lead to a fine as Premier League rules state clubs must ensure managers present themselves on a Thursday or Friday before a weekend game “save for exceptional circumstances”.

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