Sports Letters: FA action unjust

Sir: The penalties imposed by the Football Association on Tottenham Hotspur imply that the FA has a fairly strange sense of justice. Removing Tottenham from next season's FA Cup and by deducting 12 points from their league tally next season effectively imposes a variable fine that depends upon how well the players perform next year and how far they might otherwise have gone in the Cup. By my calculations the FA Cup must be worth anywhere between a quarter of a million and several million (if they had won]), while the loss of points is a fine of between zero and many millions if it leads to loss of Premier League status. I presume the idea is that next year's players are atoning for the sins of last decade's directors?

Would it not have been more natural and consistent simply to demote Tottenham? At least that way the

effective fine is at a fairly certain level.

Yours sincerely

FRANK NEALE

Watford Herts