Chelsea striker Diego Costa’s teammate Kurt Zouma has called Costa a cheater, and the FA looks likely to punish Costa as well.
Costa will face disciplinary action from the English Football Association, according to a statement:
Following the game between Chelsea and Arsenal on Saturday [19 September 2015], The FA has taken the following disciplinary action.
Diego Costa has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. The Chelsea forward was involved in an incident with Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny in the 43rd minute of the game. He has until 6pm tomorrow [Tuesday 22 September 2015] to reply.
Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees. Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence. For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision by the panel must be unanimous.
Arsenal defender Gabriel has been charged with improper conduct for his behavior following his dismissal, whilst team-mate Santi Cazorla has been warned for his behaviour following his sending off.
Finally, both clubs have been charged for failing to control their players under FA Rule E20.
Both clubs and Gabriel have until 6pm on Thursday [24 September 2015] to reply.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea will be charged for the following incidents:
The charge comes in tandem with news that Costa’s teammate Kurt Zouma called Costa a cheater. Zouma had this to say when asked if he was surprised by Costa’s actions:
"No, we're not surprised because we know Diego. Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponent out of his game," Zouma said. "That happened in the game but he's a really nice guy. We're proud to have him, like the other players, and we're happy to win this game today."
Afterwards, Zouma backed off his words in a couple of tweets.
Sorry for any confusion, English is not my first language & I did not mean to accuse anyone of cheating. Simply to say ....
— Kurt Zouma (@KurtZouma) September 21, 2015
....Diego is a player who puts pressure on his opponents & who I have huge respect for.
— Kurt Zouma (@KurtZouma) September 21, 2015
This article will be updated as the situation unfolds.
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