Sport 31-10-2003 Arsenal Take It On The Chin who: Arsenal what: Not expected to appeal after players receive £275,000 in fines and eight match bans where: Highbury, LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: "Lauren and Martin Keown have been hit with four and three-match suspensions respectively by the FA," reports the ITV news website, "for the ugly scenes after Arsenal`s match with Manchester United at Old Trafford." "The substantial sentence passed down by the FA, including four players banned for a total of eight games and fines of £275,000, would have elicited sympathy if applied to any other English club," comments Henry Winter in The Telegraph. "The financial penalty is 65 times what the FA themselves were hit with yesterday by UEFA for the England players` tunnel melee in Istanbul on Oct 11." "Ray Parlour, who admitted two charges of improper conduct for confronting Ruud van Nistelrooy and kicking out at Quinton Fortune, received a one-match ban and a £10,000 fine; and Patrick Vieira has been suspended for one game and fined £20,000 for failing to leave the field after being sent off," reports The Guardian`s Dominic Fifield. "Ashley Cole, who faced a charge of improper conduct after a spat with United`s Cristiano Ronaldo, escaped a suspension though he was reprimanded and fined £10,000, with all the bans to be served from Monday, November 17." Who know how much stiffer the penalty might have been had Highbury chiefs refused to admit their guilt. In a statement yesterday, the club agreed that the ugly scenes following the 0-0 draw on September 21st "fell well below the required standard" and accepted full responsibility for the behaviour of its players. "Arsenal will confirm today they will not appeal," says The Mirror, "with the board believing that the club must take their punishment squarely on the chin." [... more]

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