Chelsea and Barça 'sure' to face fines

Kieran Daley
Friday 03 November 2006 01:00 GMT
Comments

Lennart Johansson, the president of Uefa, European football's governing body, has insisted that he is "sure" disciplinary action will follow Chelsea's tempestuous match against Barcelona.

The Italian referee, Stefano Farina, showed 10 yellow cards during the Champions' League match in the Nou Camp - six to Chelsea players - and was confronted by a furious Frank Rijkaard, the Barcelona coach, at the final whistle.

There was also continual pressuring of the referee, mainly by Barcelona players, while the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, claimed, before the match, that the Catalan club were a team of divers.

Johansson, in London to launch his campaign to be re-elected as president of European football's governing body, said: "I'm against this behaviour but I don't make the decisions. They are taken by the disciplinary bodies. I'm sure now things will happen as it was so obvious and the people we had in place who saw it will report it."

Chelsea could expect a fine for "unsporting behaviour" - any team collecting more than five yellow cards in a match faces action - and Barcelona could also be in further trouble after their fans hurled bottles as Blues players applauded Chelsea fans at the end of the 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, new regulations governing players' agents have been agreed by the Football Association. A board meeting agreed to strengthen existing rules in time for the opening of the January transfer window.

New measures have been approved, including rules on dual representation and methods of paying agents. The FA chief executive, Brian Barwick, said: "These new regulations show the FA's commitment and determination to governing the game. They will provide a major step forward in the regulation of this area and make it absolutely clear what is acceptable for players, clubs and agents."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in