Chelsea, their manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal defender Ashley Cole have been found guilty of breaking English Premier League rules, the governing body said on Wednesday.
The Premier League announced its decision, but did not specify any punishments, in a statement following an inquiry by an independent commission into allegations that Chelsea "tapped-up" Cole in an attempt to sign the England full back.
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."
Penalties would be announced after the parties' statements of mitigation, the Premier League added. All the parties have 14 days in which to appeal.
The Premier League has the power to dock Chelsea points and is expected to fine them together with Mourinho and Cole.
The previous highest fine for an illegal approach was the 20,000 pounds Liverpool were fined for speaking to Christian Ziege when he was at Middlesbrough in 2000.
The German defender was also fined 10,000 pounds.
Chelsea won the Premier League from Arsenal by 12 points this season.
Cole's legal representatives had 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.
FUTURE UNCLEAR
The involvement of agents -- representing Cole and Chelsea -- further clouds the issue as they are not subject to the same Premier League rules as players and clubs.
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.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he hopes he stays at the club but fears the influence of his agent -- and the money available at Chelsea -- could tempt him to move across London.
Last month Wenger said of Chelsea: "They have enhancement of performances through financial resources which are unlimited.
"It puts pressure on the market that is not very healthy. They can go to (Liverpool's) Steven Gerrard or (Manchester United's) Rio Ferdinand and say 'how much do you earn? We'll give you twice as much'."
Wenger also warned that any attempt to take the Cole case beyond the football authorities and to the civil courts "would create huge chaos".
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