FINE AND FINE

Jose Mourinho was so angry at being fined £5,000 yesterday by the Football
Association for his "cheat and cheat" comment about Manchester United that he is considering reducing his cooperation with the FA on some England issues.

He has welcomed Sammy Lee from the England coaching staff to Chelsea's
training ground and is uncertain whether to remain so accommodating after being punished for words which he says were misinterpreted. But he will not withhold players from Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The Chelsea manager's fine was a third of what Arsène Wenger had to pay for calling United's Ruud van Nistelrooy a "cheat" but Mourinho feels he should have been cleared.

The commission was told that, as a newcomer to England, he had not realised
then that "cheat" had any worse connotations than "dive".

He said "dive" in his press conference after the Carling Cup tie against United and then used "cheat" on Chelsea TV. "It was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat," he said. The Portuguese later explained that cheat was perhaps the wrong word. "For me, cheat means when a player gets one touch and they dive."

He wonders whether the FA felt obliged to fine him because of Wenger's
punishment in December.

The commission was less severe with Mourinho because, unlike Wenger, he had no history of FA punishments. It also bore in mind his explanation and that Wenger's comment had worsened long-standing bad blood between Arsenal and United.

Mourinho has been warned as to his future conduct, having been reminded of his responsibilities by the FA last week for his finger-to-lips gesture at the Carling Cup final.

Chelsea and Blackburn have been fined for brawling at Ewood Park last month.

Chelsea were fined £15,000 and Blackburn, who admitted the misconduct
charge, £10,000.

Uefa has confirmed it is investigating post-match incidents at Chelsea's
Champions League tie at home to Barcelona.