Arsenal hit with huge fine, players banned over Battle of Old Trafford

The English Football Association fined Arsenal 175,000 pounds (298,000 dollars) and banned four of their players for a total of nine matches following the clashes that erupted at the end of their draw with Manchester United last month.

Defenders Lauren and Martin Keown were banned for four and three matches respectively while skipper Patrick Vieira and Ray Parlour will each serve one-match bans for their role in an ugly post-match fracas at Old Trafford.

The players also received individual fines: 40,000 pounds (68,000 dollars) for Lauren, 20,000 (34,000) for Keown and Vieira, and 10,000 (17,000) for Parlour. Ashley Cole was also fined 10,000 pounds but escaped a ban.

The suspensions will be served from Monday, November 17, meaning manager Arsene Wenger will have to do without all four players for the Premiership match at Birmingham on November 22.

Overall however the timing of the ban means the impact of the suspensions on Arsenal's season will not be as severe as first feared.

Although Vieira will be badly missed for the trip to Birmingham, the match is around the time he is due to come back from a thigh injury, so he may have missed out in any case.

Keown and Lauren will also miss the home match against Fulham the following weekend and the League Cup clash with Wolves with Lauren serving the final match of his ban when Arsenal travel to bottom side Leicester on December 6.

Arsenal had pleaded guilty to the charges in the hope this would encourage the FA to be lenient.

Their hopes on that score were dashed but Arsenal signalled they are unlikely to appeal by issuing a fresh public apology for the players' conduct.

"The Club accepts that what occurred during and immediately after the match on 21st September 2003 fell well below the required standard," a statement said.

Any appeal would carry the risk of the bans being delayed until later in the season when Arsenal could face more difficult fixtures.

The hefty bans for Keown and Lauren reflect their central role in the violent jostling of United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy immediately after the final whistle.

Parlour was also part of the group that surrounded and jeered the Dutch forward over his late penalty miss. Vieira paid the price for his failure to leave the field immediately after being sent off for kicking out at van Nistelrooy late in the game.

The fine imposed on Arsenal was for the club's failure to control its players and is thought to be the highest ever imposed on an English club by the governing body.

Manchester United players Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo also face disciplinary action over the incidents at Old Trafford. Their cases were not dealt with Thursday because United are contesting the charges of improper conduct laid against the two players.

Ronaldo would appear unlikely to face a ban as he was involved in the confrontation for which Ashley Cole was only fined.

The scenes at Old Trafford triggered a fresh round of condemnation of Arsenal's disciplinary record under Wenger. Since the Frenchman took over in 1996, Arsenal have received 52 cards and lost a total of 148 games to suspension. Vieira alone has missed the equivalent of half a season.