Chelsea Admit Misconduct Charge As Wenger Rails Against Fa

Chelsea have admitted a Football Association charge of failing to control their players following the 18-man brawl which marred last weekend's Carling Cup final.

The charge, which also takes into account the club's officials, is a result of a fracas which led to Mikel Jon Obi being dismissed, along with Arsenal's Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor - while Emmanuel Eboue was also banned for three games after the match for appearing to punch Wayne Bridge. Chelsea have requested a personal hearing with the FA to plead their case, although it is yet to be scheduled.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, has continued his feud with the FA by claiming the Gunners are treated more harshly than other clubs. The Frenchman has refused to accept the FA's decision to ban Adebayor and insisted he will persist with his attempts to clear the Togolese striker.

"The referee and the linesman made a big mistake and I am able to prove it," he said. "Adebayor did not punch [Frank] Lampard and did not intend to and we can prove it. It is not the truth. We do not accept that. I do not accept that the club is treated like that. I will defend that to the FA. It was a lie and is not responsible. It is regrettable that [the FA] punished the club. The club deserves more respect than that, it is undeserved. We commit the lowest fouls in the league but we are the most punished. We are entitled to get the same treatment as everybody else."

Wenger once again took the opportunity to condemn the FA's disciplinary procedures and claimed his players' behaviour received undue attention. "The whole system is not fair and not honest and it's wrong," he argued. "There is no bad intention inside the FA but I believe it is not right. In England you can kick people off the park and no one is shocked, but you push someone and the whole country is shocked. If you love football you love fair behaviour on the pitch. We are fair on the pitch."

An FA spokesman said the organisation would be making no further comment on the issue until they had received Wenger's response to their request for him to clarify his earlier remarks.