Ashley Cole is facing up to the prospect of being fined the maximum two weeks' wages, amounting to over £160,000, by Chelsea after the England full-back was arrested outside a west London bar on Wednesday night on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.
The defender was arrested outside The Collection in South Kensington at around 2.15am yesterday after he failed to stop swearing at police officers. Cole, who had left team-mates in the bar, later denied that he had been drinking excessively but was handed a fixed-penalty notice upon his release. He issued a public apology last night to the policemen concerned, though he may find his new manager at Chelsea, Guus Hiddink, less easy to placate.
The Dutchman is renowned as a strict disciplinarian and, while there was no curfew imposed on the players following their appearance at a fundraising event earlier on Wednesday night, he was left unimpressed that Cole ended up in a central London police station before his release at around 5.30am ahead of the team's planned morning training session.
The 28-year-old technically remains available for selection for tomorrow's FA Cup quarter-final tie at Coventry City. However, while Hiddink might have already been inclined to rest him ahead of next week's Champions League tie at Juventus, his involvement appears even more doubtful now. The England coach, Fabio Capello, will also have noted events with interest but, while he will discuss the player's conduct with his assistant, Franco Baldini, he is unlikely to consider the defender's position in the national team's set-up ahead of the forthcoming games against Slovakia and Ukraine.
Cole claimed his actions were born of frustration after he was photographed by paparazzi leaving The Collection. "I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the police officers on duty last night for my language," he said in a statement. "I felt I was being harassed by paparazzi and, while complaining to the police about this at the scene, they did warn me to calm down, a warning that I regrettably did not heed. I fully appreciate that whatever frustrations I may have had with others that it was completely inappropriate to vent those in conversations with the police. However, I do want to make clear that I swore in frustration at the paparazzi's behaviour. I would never disrespect police officers in any way.
"I take very seriously my responsibilities as a professional footballer, this includes keeping my body in the best condition. Although I had consumed some alcohol earlier in the evening on a night out with friends it had not been excessive. But I accept that the language I used on this occasion was wrong. I regret my actions and how it reflects on myself and Chelsea Football Club."
Cole had been at the second annual Chelsea FC and Armani charity fundraiser, along with the first-team squad and more than 300 charity workers, celebrities and supporters, earlier in the evening before moving on to the bar in Brompton Road. The Collection's general manager, Burim Maraj, said the establishment closed at midnight but Cole, John Terry and Michael Mancienne, along with other patrons, had stayed inside to eat a meal.
"People were coming up to them during dinner, men and women," said Maraj. "They seemed happy and quite polite. All the players came for a quiet night. But I believe there was a photographer inside who took a picture of Cole. He was more frustrated than being drunk, because of the paparazzi – it must have been something. My staff told me he stopped to speak to police as he left. He was apparently complaining about paparazzi. My staff said he was being rude to the police."
Police were patrolling the street as normal when Cole emerged and were not called to any disorder, with the player given an £80 fixed-penalty notice after being released some three hours after the incident. Chelsea were unable to confirm whether or not the player had recovered sufficiently to attend training at the club's Cobham base.
