Another Fine Mess!

According to reports, Chelsea Football Club will be fined £16,000 as a result of the six bookings which their players collected in the ill-tempered Champions League group fixture against Barcelona at the Camp Nou (or as they say in England, the Nou Camp). And club officials must be shaking in their shoes.

None of your namby pamby gestures and slaps on the wrist this time. The football authorities have clearly had enough and they’re determined to get really tough. From now on, clubs had better get used to the prospect of Draconian punishments being meted out to serious offenders.

And, as Chelsea will no doubt confirm, there’s no better deterrent than a crippling fine.