FA to refer Chelsea brawl to UAE

The Football Association are expected to make contact with their United Arab Emirates counterparts when an investigation into a training-ground brawl between Chelsea reserves and UAE side Al-Ahli is concluded.

The practice match last week was abandoned in the first half following the violence at the Barclays Premier League side’s Cobham base in Surrey.

The referee’s report, which has been filed to the FA, is understood to point the finger at Al-Ahli players being the instigators.

FA officials are still gathering details of the match and they will send their findings to the UAE and they expect action against players guilty of wrongdoing.

Chelsea’s players were reportedly assaulted with karate kicks, knee-high tackles and had their hair pulled out and eyes gouged.

The Chelsea side included some of the players on the fringe of the first-team squad, including goalkeeper Rhys Taylor, defender Jeffrey Bruma, Carl Magnay, Gael Kakuta and defender Jack Cork, who is now on loan at Coventry.

Cork was reported to have been repeatedly hit while in a headlock and an opponent is said to have poked his fingers up the nose of Kakuta.

The fracas was captured by Chelsea’s TV channel but the club have since removed all references to the game from its official website.