A British soccer agent was banned for nine months and fined £100,000 ($290,000) by the Football Association overnight (NZ time) for his role in the transfer of England defender Ashley Cole to Chelsea.
The FA ruled that Jonathan Barnett was guilty of misconduct by organising a meeting involving Cole and Chelsea officials without the knowledge of his then club Arsenal while he was under contract to them.
"We consider this a most serious case of its kind involving as it did a leading English international player contracted to one of England's premier clubs, namely Arsenal FC, and also involving the chief executive and manager of another leading English premier club, namely Chelsea FC," an FA statement said.
Barnett denied any wrongdoing. His agent's licence was suspended for 18 months in total, half of which was suspended, and was ordered to pay costs on top of the fine.
"We are wholly satisfied that there is need in this case for an element of deterrence in the sanction we are to impose. We are also wholly satisfied that Mr Barnett was a prime mover in the setting up of the meeting," the FA statement added.
Chelsea had already been fined 300,000 and handed a suspended three-point deduction by the Premier League following an investigation into claims they had illegally approached -- or "tapped up" in British soccer parlance -- Cole last year.
Cole and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho were fined £75,000 each for their part in the meeting in January 2005.
The transfer was completed earlier this month with Chelsea swapping their French defender William Gallas plus five million pounds for Cole.
The issue of "tapping up" is a hot topic in the British game after BBC television programme Panorama last week tackled the subject in a so-called expose of FA rule breaches in the transfer market by agents and managers.
The FA are investigating the BBC claims which included clips of Chelsea director of youth football, Frank Arnesen, discussing the possibility of attracting a contracted Middlesbrough teenage player to the English champions. Arnesen has denied wrongdoing.
- REUTERS
Agent banned for role in Ashley Cole transfer
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