LONDON — The Football Association has charged Ashley Cole with misconduct after the England defender criticized the governing body in a vulgar Twitter post.

The Chelsea left-back reacted angrily Friday after an F.A. commission questioned the evidence he gave in defending teammate John Terry against a racism charge.

An F.A. statement Monday says the charge is "in relation to a Twitter comment which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute."

Cole, who could be fined by the F.A., is currently on national team duty with England before World Cup qualifiers against San Marino on Friday and Poland next Tuesday.