Chelsea hit with massive fine
Chelsea have been fined £300,000 (€444,465) and hit with a suspended three-point deduction by the Premier League after being found guilty of making an illegal approach to Ashley Cole.
The points penalty will only be imposed if Chelsea commit a similar offence during the 2005/06 season.
Cole was fined £100,000 (€148,155) for his compliance, despite the Premier League declaring that he had been “manipulated to a large extent by his agent”, and Mourinho was ordered to pay £200,000 as punishment for their roles in the saga.
The Premier League stated that the financial penalty imposed on the Arsenal and England defender would mean “it is unlikely that Ashley Cole will ever be tempted in this way again”.
An independent commission concluded that the Arsenal and England defender did meet at a London hotel with Chelsea officials, including manager Jose Mourinho, to discuss a potential transfer to Stamford Bridge.
All parties acted without Arsenal’s permission, and a complaint from the Gunners in February led the Premier League to carry out a thorough investigation.
Cole jetted in from New York to hear his fate at Premier League headquarters personally, hours after playing for England in their 3-2 win over Colombia.
He was found in breach of Premier League rule K5, which prohibited him from approaching Chelsea with a view to negotiating a transfer.
Chelsea were determined to have broken rule K3, forbidding them talking to Cole by any means while under contract and without Arsenal’s authority. Cole’s deal still has two years left to run.
Mourinho was deemed to be in breach of rule Q, governing managers’ conduct.
It was first reported in January that Cole, Mourinho and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon met at the Royal Park Hotel in London.
The FA launched their investigation seven days after the initial allegations, and charges were brought in March, with an independent commission hearing the case last month.
Chelsea’s ‘super agent’ Pini Zahavi was also alleged to have been at the Lancaster Gate meeting, as was Cole’s representative Jonathan Barnett.
However, neither fall under the jurisdiction of the Premier League and therefore there could not be any imposition on them today.
The Premier League statement nonetheless added: “We recommend that the responsible bodies concerned should investigate the roles of Pini Zahavi and Jonathan Barnett.”
