Chelsea, Everton Fined £30,000 for Player Misconduct After Admitting Charge

Chelsea and Everton have been fined by the FA for player misconduct after an incident from their Premier League fixture on Feb. 11.   

The governing body confirmed the £30,000 fine for both clubs after they accepted the charge, via its Twitter account:

The FA published a full statement regarding the punishment on its official website, highlighting the details of the decision: 

"

Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, both Chelsea and Everton have been fined £30,000 for player misconduct. 

Following an incident in the 86th minute of their fixture on 11 February 2015, both clubs were charged with failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour 

The charge against Chelsea further alleged that their players surrounded the Match Referee and/or became involved in a mass confrontation. Chelsea and Everton both admitted their charge and as well as being fined were also warned as to their future conduct. 

"

However, no additional action was taken against Blues defender Branislav Ivanovic, who appeared to move his head towards James McCarthy in an aggressive manner.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez was disappointed Ivanovic was not sent off for his actions. After the game, he spoke about the full-back's provocative physical nature, per David Hytner of The Guardian.

"He grabs him around the neck in a forceful manner, then puts his head against him when James McCarthy didn’t react."

Christopher Beesley of The Liverpool Echo tweeted about referee chief Keith Hackett's "stunned" reaction after the match official did not punish the Chelsea player with a red card:

And David Prentice of The Liverpool Echo quoted Hackett, who said he believed Jose Mourinho's recent words about a "campaign" against the EPL leaders might have influenced proceedings:

"

What they’re saying is that it’s perfectly okay for a player to grab an opponent and almost throttle him because the Chelsea player got away with it. They’re sending the wrong signals out.

The FA, ultimately, are the people responsible for applying the discipline within the process and therefore they must ensure that the people sitting on this panel understand the law and make global decisions in terms of the global image of the game and say that this is unreasonable behaviour by the player; how can he not be guilty?

I find it almost impossible to understand how that player has got away with that incident. You might be right in asking if that panel has been influenced by comments made by the Chelsea manager.

"

It is puzzling that the referee did not immediately issue a red card to Ivanovic, considering his actions. And if he had not seen the head-butt, the moment could have been dealt with retrospectively.

Mourinho is convinced Chelsea receive a tough time from the authorities in England, but the outcome of this case does not support such a claim by the Special One.

However, the Chelsea coach will be pleased he has not lost one of his key players for three matches, so there is every chance that his own mind games have paid dividends this time.