Chelsea must be punished as their unrelenting harassment of referees continues

Even without José Mourinho, the FA and Premier League still find themselves at odds with the Russia of football power struggles.

Chelsea are not new to disciplinary action, but their accumulation of offences has gone unnoticed by the Football Association who have continually failed to curb their misdemeanours with small, ineffective fines and even less effectual written warnings.

John Terry called into question the very people that make football official in disputing Graham Poll’s integrity during last season’s defeat at Tottenham, yet after much delay and the intervention of international politics – Terry being the England captain – he was handed a ridiculous fine and given no suspension. Unsurprisingly, his blistering abuse of match officials continues in virtually every game, and as captain of one of the worst behaved teams in the league, he is ultimately responsible for his players’ action on the field. However, his loathing and systematic disrespect of referees results only in abuse towards them from the entire eleven outfield players.

The club have been fined consistently since announcing themselves on the scene as title contenders. From the two games within 15 days of each other at West Brom and Fulham to the infamous incident during the Carling Cup final last season, Chelsea have persistently “failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.”

From the West Brom game, the FA released the following statement, “The charge relates to an incident in the 43rd minute of Chelsea’s game against West Bromwich Albion when several Chelsea players surrounded referee Mark Halsey following a foul by West Brom’s Ronnie Wallwork. Mr. Halsey reported the incident to The FA and expressed his view that a number of Chelsea players pressurised him at this time.” And after the Fulham encounter, the FA said, “The referee and assistant reported that a number of players had surrounded the assistant in an aggressive manner.” On both occasions, they were fined just £10,000 and, as a hollow threat, warned to their future conduct.

Both Chelsea and Arsenal were charged with failing to control their players and/or officials in the Carling Cup final fracas and fined £100,000, with the FA claiming Arsenal 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,” an argument that has little standing.

There has been a similar charge in a game with Blackburn, Uefa have had their say – at one point labelling Mourinho as “the enemy of football”, and the club completely disregarded the ethics of football – as well as breaking Premier League rule K3 – in the tapping up affair over Ashley Cole. They were fined £300,000 but had no points docked.

And their disciplinary record has already taken a hit this season; Chelsea were fined £30,000 for failing to control their players against Manchester United in September. Steve Clark’s £5,000 fine for “using abusive and/or insulting words” probably didn’t ring any alarm bells at his bank, but the FA weren’t finished. They, naturally, warned Chelsea as to their future conduct. Perhaps the punishment might be £50,000 next time, sure to make Roman Abramovich speculate whether he has much money left.

Their latest transgression saw up to seven Chelsea players surround referee Andre Marriner as Michael Essien was correctly sent off for raising his arms and making contact with Kenny Miller, and the club must again be charged.

The FA has to stamp down on behaviour which is injurious to the game’s image, entailing hefty fines, final warnings and individual players being sanctioned for their roles. Chelsea’s ‘everyone’s against us’, attitude and at war mentality is intended to intimidate opponents and, more significantly, match officials. In most cases, they have very little to protest and do so in order to influence referee’s future decisions. It is behaviour which is copied right down to Sunday league level where referees are not only surrounded, but also verbally and physically attacked.

The FA are aware of this, as demonstrated by the falling number of registered referees in England, but don’t wish to upset the apple cart, i.e. the top four’s cartel. Sir Alex Ferguson has also been treated with extreme leniency following numerous comments regarding officials, while Arsène Wenger was charged on various occasions last season over his misconduct, but never given a touchline ban – much like the treatment Mourinho was entitled to.

The scenes at the end of the Derby encounter were sadly reminiscent of Chelsea under their former coach, with John Terry once again failing to act as an example; instead, he behaved like an uncouth, insolent and foul-mouthed Englishman.

Chelsea’s unrelenting harassment of match officials has to stop, but that will only happen if the FA put their foot down and realise the damage that it is doing to the game. The time to start is now.

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