By Andrew Warshaw
October 8 – Chelsea are to take disciplinary action against their England fullback Ashley Cole after his infamous Tweet against the Football Association (FA).
Last week Cole denounced the FA for criticising his role in the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand racism case.
Cole used an expletive in a Tweet after his reliability was questioned in the 63-page report into hearing that found Terry guilty of racist abuse.
Cole apologised within minutes but the damage was already done.
“We’ve got a social media policy at the club,” said Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo.
“If you are going to criticise football the one thing I would completely agree with is there are certain players out there, and I am not particularly picking on Ashley Cole, that forget some times that they represent an employer, industry and governing body which is the FA.”
Di Matteo (pictured above) says Chelsea players must work harder to repair the club’s increasingly battered reputation.
“The image of the club is very important to us, of course,” he explained.
“We have rules, and anybody who breaks the rules faces disciplinary action against them.
“We strive to have high standards and hopefully, going forward, we can be better at showing those.”
Cole is due to meet up with the England squad today for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.
But former England striker Alan Shearer has called for him to be banned as punishment for his outburst.
Shearer told the BBC’s Match of the Day programme: “I think the FA can put a big statement out here by actually not fining him but actually banning him on Friday [October 12] against San Marino.”
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