Ashley Cole

London: Chelsea, their manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal’s Ashley Cole were all fined heavily on Wednesday in the “tapping-up” affair of the England defender.

The Premier League handed down a fine of ?300,000 to Chelsea who were also told they would have three points deducted if they committed a similar offence next season.

Mourinho was fined ?200,000 and Cole ?100,000 after being found guilty of breaking Premier League rules.

The Premier League reached its decisions following an inquiry by an independent commission into allegations that Chelsea “tapped-up” Cole in January in an attempt to sign the England full back.

All the parties have 14 days in which to appeal.

The previous highest fine for an illegal approach was the ?20,000 Liverpool were fined for speaking to Christian Ziege when he was at Middlesbrough in 2000. The German defender was also fined ?10,000.

The Premier League said Chelsea “were found to be in breach of Rule K3 which prohibits a club making an approach to a contract player either directly or indirectly without first obtaining permission of the club to which he is under contract.

“Ashley Cole was found to be in breach of Rule K5 which states that a contract player, either by himself or by any other party acting on his behalf, shall not either directly or indirectly make any approach to a club with a view to negotiating a contract without obtaining the prior written consent of the club to which he is under contract.

“Jose Mourinho was found to be in breach of Rule Q, governing managers’ conduct.”

Chelsea won the Premier League from Arsenal by 12 points this season.

Cole’s legal representatives have argued that the Premier League rules breached European employment law.

The incident was investigated last month by the three-man independent commission who interviewed Cole, Mourinho, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and Arsenal chairman David Dein, who made the initial complaint.

Mourinho initially denied that he and Kenyon had met Cole, saying he was in Milan speaking with (Inter) striker Adriano when the meeting took place, while Cole, who is contracted to Arsenal until 2007, has never denied his presence.

Cole was present for the verdict having arrived back in England earlier on Wednesday after playing in England's 3-2 win over Colombia in New Jersey on Tuesday.

His future remains unclear, however.