FA await referee's report

The Football Association will await the arrival of Howard Webb’s official report into yesterday’s Carling Cup Final before deciding whether to take further action over the brawl which saw three players sent off.

Gunners skipper Kolo Toure, team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor and Chelsea’s Mikel Jon Obi were all dismissed in the dying stages of the Blues’ 2-1 win.

There were claims after the game that Adebayor was the victim of mistaken identity, with Webb getting the wrong man after Emmanuel Eboue was apparently seen punching Wayne Bridge.

The mistaken identity argument is unlikely to save Adebayor from an investigation into his conduct following the red card, when he had to be forcibly removed from the pitch by Arsenal staff as he attempted to protest his innocence.

At the very least, both sides seem sure to find themselves in trouble for failing to control their players, with Eboue facing further sanction if Webb either admits to missing the punch altogether or acknowledges he got the wrong man.

Under the FA’s new fast-track disciplinary system, both clubs must submit claims for either wrongful dismissal or mistaken identity today, otherwise all three red-carded players will automatically miss three matches.

In Obi’s case, that would start with Chelsea’s Premiership trip to Portsmouth, while Toure and Adebayor would crucially be forced to sit out Wednesday’s FA Cup replay at Blackburn.

The brawl, which saw as many players dismissed in one minute as in the 46 previous finals altogether, completely overshadowed a pulsating contest, which also featured Chelsea skipper John Terry being stretchered off after being kicked in the head by Abou Diaby.

Yet both Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho were eager to play down the row as the dust settled on Chelsea’s second triumph in the competition in three years, although the Arsenal boss admitted he feared Soho Square might get involved.

“With the FA you always have a good chance to worry,” he said. “It is better to worry with them.

“I am disappointed with the brawl because I don’t think it reflected the quality of the game.

“A few punches were exchanged, not only from our side, but I regret the fact we lost our nerve when we should have just taken the free-kick and got on with the game.”

Mourinho claimed both he and Wenger were acting as peacemakers when they entered the pitch to calm a situation which erupted following Obi’s foul on Toure.

But rather than castigating his players for an incident that brought shame on the English game on such a showpiece occasion, he preferred to outline his strategy for making sure it does not happen again.

“Sometimes, mature people lose control of their emotions,” he said.

“You cannot kill a player because something happened. If Mikel Jon Obi did something wrong, it is not my job to kill him, it is my job to educate him.

“The players who did something wrong on the pitch have to be punished in terms of suspensions, but they also have to learn through their experiences. This is a high-level experience because it is a final.”