Rafael Benitez has been fined £60,000 after accepting an FA charge for comments about the referee prior to Newcastle's game against Crystal Palace.

His comments made during the pre-match press conference on Friday 21 September 2018 constituted improper conduct and/or brought the game into disrepute.

Rafa: Ashley dinner was pleasant

In a pre-match interview, Benitez said: "I have a lot of confidence with Andre Marriner. He has a lot of experience, even if his record with our players is not that great in terms of red cards."

Benitez was led to speak about Marriner after being asked about Wilfried Zaha's demands for more protection from Premier League officials the week before.

Benitez urged the FA to deal with comments on referees made by Wilfried Zaha

The Spaniard was "surprised" by Zaha's comments and called for the FA to charge the Ivory Coast international.

"He's a good player no doubt about that but I think the FA has to deal with his comments," Benitez said in his pre-match press conference. "I'm sure that Marriner will not have this in the back of his head.

"He has a lot of experience, even if his record is not the best in terms of red cards, but I'm confident he is a very good referee with a lot of experience and he will deal with the situation in a normal way."

Newcastle are in action away to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday evening.