Chelsea, Cole & Mourinho heavily fined
AFP, London
English Premiership champions Chelsea were fined 300,000 pounds and handed a suspended three points deduction for tapping up Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole, the Premier League announced on Wednesday. Cole himself was fined 100,000 pounds while Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho received a fine of 200,000 pounds after all three parties had been found guilty of breaching Premier League rules following allegations of the London club 'tapping up' the England defender. All three guilty parties later announced they would appeal with Chelsea especially angered at the sanctions imposed and pointing the finger of blame more at Arsenal for making such a issue out of it. "We are very disappointed, even shocked at the sanctions," said Chelsea's American chairman Bruce Buck. "The tribunal in its findings clearly said that Chelsea had been approached by agents on behalf of Ashley Cole and then came to the conclusion that the fact we went to the meeting with Ashley Cole made us a guilty party. "We disagree. We believe that attending the meeting does not go over the line. "Having said that the sanctions are totally disproportionate. We are certainly going to appeal and look forward to making this right at a future time." Buck said that he felt sorry for Cole. "I think it is an unfortunate situation. He is a fine young man, who was caught up in this situation. "At the hearing two weeks ago Jose Mourinho was asked how would he react if John Terry had been discovered talking to Arsenal in the bar after a match and Mourinho handled it beautifully. "He said he would call the player in and ask him what was the problem and if it was a football issue he would have gone out of his way to resolve it. If it was a financial one he would have gone to Peter Kenyon and the board and told them to resolve it. "In this case the players' current club (Arsenal) didn't try and resolve anything but made it into a spectacle which I think inappropriate and not in the best interests of the player or football." Cole announced through his solicitor Graham Shear that he would be appealing. "This sends entirely the wrong message. English football have lost the message that a footballer is an employee, it is more like the master and servant of centuries ago.
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