The FA have a long history of punishing Manchester United for actions many others would and have escaped punishment for.

Since joining United, Mourinho has been punished for stepping an inch over the touchline when encouraging his team forward, as well as receiving a ban for kicking a bottle of water.

Wayne Rooney was banned for two matches for swearing after scoring a hattrick, which saw him miss the FA Cup semi-final in 2011. Plenty of players have been caught on camera swearing before and since. They’ve also sworn at match officials and opposition players which, according to the rules of the game, should see them given a red card. But the referees never hand out such a punishment.

The most ridiculous of the recent charges brought against United by the FA was following United’s dramatic 3-2 comeback against Newcastle. Mourinho was caught on camera mumbling something in Portuguese. The FA got lip-readers and translators to find he said ‘fuck off sons of bitches’. Mourinho became the first person charged for swearing in a foreign language.

However, an Independent Regulatory Commission said the charge was ‘found not proven’ today, with our legal department vigorously contesting the charge and compiling a strong defence to secure a rare victory over the governing body.

The FA are reportedly surprised by the verdict and are waiting for written reasons to be published next week before deciding whether to lodge an appeal against the decision.