Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has been hit with a hefty £20,000 fine by the English Football Association for calling Premier League referees the "worst in the world".

However, the 70-year-old has avoided a touchline ban for the comments made in the aftermath of his team's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on March 31.

Warnock requested a personal hearing after being charged by the FA for the comments which he made in three separate interviews.

The relegation threatened Bluebirds were on course for a valuable three points before an 84th minute Cesar Azpilicueta header, from a clearly offside position, levelled the match at 1-1.

The referee's decision not to send off Antonio Rudiger after he brought down Kenneth Zohore also angered Warnock who walked up to the officials before staring them down after the game.

In a statement released on Wednesday the FA said: "Neil Warnock has been fined £20,000 for commenting on the match official following the Premier League game between Cardiff City and Chelsea.

"Whilst the manager denied three breaches of FA Rule E3, they were subsequently found proven during an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.

"Comments he made in a post-match interview with the BBC, and a post-match interview with Sky Sports, were found to be improper as they questioned the integrity of the match official and/or implied bias.

"In addition, comments he made in a Talksport radio interview on were found to constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute."

Warnock must now get back to the task of trying to keep Cardiff in the top-flight and with just two games left, it looks an impossible one.

The Welsh club are third from bottom and four points from safety with wins need against Crystal Palace (H) and Manchester United (A) in their final two matches while they also need Brighton to drop five points in their last two fixtures.