23/03/05
Chelsea's Blues -
Categories: Chelsea face disciplinary proceedings
In what's shaping up to be an historic season of league and cup triumphs, Chelsea's seemingly smooth path to the championship has hit a couple of serious roadblocks. First, the club and manager Jose Mourinho are charged by the English Football Associatino with making an illegal approach to Arsenal left back Ashley Cole. The charge stems from a meeting Cole had at a London hotel with Mourinho, Chelsea officials, and agents. Under league rules, such a meeting, without the approval of the player's current club, is illegal and amounts to "tapping up." While Chelsea and Cole do not deny the meeting, their defense seems to be that it was a chance encounter and not a planned meeting to discuss the player's transfer to Stamford Bridge. Although this defense sounds dubious, it must be admitted that this kind of thing happens all the time. But when the team and player are caught, especially in such a public place, it is embarrasing for both parties. If found guilty, Chelsea will probably escape with a fine rather than a deduction in league points.
Chelsea are also in trouble with UEFA (the governing body of European footbal) for a series of infractions during the team's Champions League match at Barcelona. After referee Anders Frisk sent off Didier Drogba in the second half, Jose Mourinho first missed the post-match press conference and then suggested that Frisk's decision was influenced by Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard. Mourinho claimed that he saw Rijkaard speak with Frisk during half-time and enter the referee's dressing room, suggesting that Drogba's red card was the result of pressure Rijkaard put on Frisk during the half-time encounter.
UEFA has charged Chelsea, and Jose Mourinho in particular, with failing to show up for the post-match press conference, returning to the field late for the second half, and making false claims about the referee. The fact that Frisk received death threats after the game and was forced to retire from football complicates the matter. UEFA specifically absolved Mourinho of blame in causing Frisk to retire and Chelsea vehemently denounced the death threats. But UEFA has researched Mourinho's allegation about the half-time meeting between Frisk and Rijkaard and concluded that it was false. Mourinho may have been simply trying to take the heat off his players after their defeat in Spain or trying to distract Rijkaard and the Barcelona players before the second leg (which Chelsea won, eliminating Barcelona), but UEFA has made it perfectly clear that any false allegations about their referees' integrity will not be tolerated.
Chelsea director Peter Kenyon, however, firmly denies UEFA's charges and has accused the governing body of convicting the club before any hearing has taken place. Kenyon stands by Mourinho's statements and suggests that it is inappropriate for UEFA to issue public statements branding Mourinho a liar and questioning the integrity of the club. Mourinho even suggested that the chrages would be dropped.
If found guilty, punishment for Chelsea's misdeeds could range from an official reprimand to being kicked out of the Champions League. The most likely consequence is a hefty fine and a suspension for Jose Mourinho, a punishment endorsed even by Frank Rijkaard, who belives that it is the manager, rather than the Chelsea players, who deserve punishment. If Chelsea go on to win the Champions League, Mourinho may not care what his punishment is, but one thing is clear. Frank Rijkaard has been more gracious in defeat than Jose Mourinho was after the first match in Barcelona. But in defense of Mourinho, if he honestly thought there was foul play going on between the referee and his opposition manager, then didn't he owe it to his club and their fans to report what he saw?
