Chelsea appeal against Cole's belated suspension

Chelsea have appealed against Joe Cole's two-match ban, which was imposed for an incident while he was a West Ham United player.

Cole was fined £15,000 and suspended for two matches for his involvement in a fracas at the end of West Ham's Premiership game away to Bolton last season. Players from both sides squared up at the end of the 1-0 defeat and Cole was seen to throw punches.

Cole will make a personal appearance before a Football Association disciplinary panel in the new year.

Chelsea's acting chief-executive, Paul Smith, said: "We're being punished for something that happened over 230 days ago when Joe wasn't even a Chelsea player."

Pavel Nedved, the subject last week of a reported £25m bid from Chelsea, has said he wants to finish his football career playing in Serie A and not at Stamford Bridge.

The Juventus midfielder said yesterday that he intended to retire after the 2006 World Cup having played his last season in Italy.

Nedved said: "I have a contract with Juventus to the end of the summer of 2006. I want to finish my football career at the 2006 World Cup and that's when my contract at Juventus runs out."

The Czech international added: "I really like the Premiership ... but I'm honestly not thinking about a move."