Chelsea's Ramires banned for four games

Chelsea midfielder Ramires will miss the rest of the Premier League season after being handed a four-match ban by the FA on Thursday for elbowing Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson.

The Brazilian accepted a charge of violent conduct from Saturday's 2-1 home defeat, the FA said, and his ban starts immediately.

Ramires received a three-match ban for the incident, which was not seen by referee Mike Dean, with a further game added because of his sending off against Aston Villa last month.

He will miss Chelsea's crunch Premier League match at Liverpool on Sunday as well as games against Norwich City and Cardiff City, although he will be able to play in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

Sunderland's victory at Stamford Bridge came courtesy of a contentious penalty decision that sparked a furious touchline reaction from coach Rui Faria who was charged with using "abusive and/or insulting words towards the Fourth Official" as well as "improper conduct".

Manager Jose Mourinho was also charged with misconduct after sarcastically congratulating referee Dean as well as referee's chief Mike Riley in the immediate aftermath of the match.

Mourinho was fined 8,000 pounds ($13,400) and warned about his future conduct as recently as April 10 after being sent to the stands in last month's defeat at Aston Villa.

Both Faria and Mourinho have until Monday to respond to the charges.

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