Arsenal and Chelsea both fined 100,000 pounds

LONDON: Arsenal and Chelsea have been slapped with a 100,000-pound fine each by the Football Association for the behaviour of players and backroom staff near the end of the League Cup final a month ago.

The melee at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on February 25 was sparked following a confrontation between Chelsea's Jon Obi Mikel and Arsenal captain Kolo Toure, with players and coaches from both sides becoming involved.

Both players were dismissed, alongside Arsenal's Togo international striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who confronted referee Howard Webb and refused to immediately leave the pitch.

The FA's disciplinary commission today stated that they viewed the incident as "serious, unacceptable and damaging to the image of the game."

However, they took into consideration the guilty pleas and the mitigation put forward by both Premiership clubs, following Chelsea's 2-1 success.

The commission found that Arsenal players had been "marginally more involved in the incident, but that Chelsea had past proven cases in recent years regarding the general behaviour of their players where warnings had been issued."