Arsenal FC have found themselves in murky waters, regarding the transfer of defender Callum Chambers from Southampton, and subsequently have been fined A?60,000, for their part in the transaction.
The breach of FA transfer rules does not affect just the club, but also Alan Middleton, an agent licensed by the FA, who has been fined A?30,000, and handed a three-month suspension from all agency-related activities.
The main breach of the FA rules happened due to the fact that a major part of the dealings and transactions of the Chambers deal was conducted by Philip Ercolano, who is not licensed agent.
While the FA maintains that Arsenal FC was not aware of the fact that Ercolano was not actually licensed by the FA, Englanda s apex football authority did condemn the North London club for not running strong background checks.
a The Club (Arsenal FC) failed to carry out any or any adequate checks to establish whether Philip Ercolano was both Playera s Agent and a Licensed Agent, which at all material times it believed him to be,a said the FA, in a press release.
a Had the Club done so, PEa s true status as an unlicensed and Unauthorised Agent would have been revealed,a the statement continued.
The FA took into consideration, the fact that Arsenal FC has had no previous record of such a breach of the transfer regulations, which is why, a A?60,000 fine was all that the Gunners were slapped with.
As for Middletona s case, the FAa s Independent Regulatory Commission found that the former had knowledge about the fact that Ercolano was not licensed, and still chose to act upon it. Middleton was supposed to receive A?30,000 in parts from the Chambers deal. He would be fined this amount for his failure to act on the knowledge.
This seems to be the only bad news for the Gunners, in this past week, when they have beaten German giants Bayern Munich, and Premier League side Everton, and also saw Manchester United and Manchester City play-out a tame 0-0 draw, which takes them to the top of the table, on the same number of points as the latter.
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It is unlikely that this fine is going to affect the performance of Arsenal, as they prepare for their Capital One Cup Round of 16 tie, at Sheffield Wednesday, on Wednesday.