Chelsea have been fined £30,000, severely censured and warned as to their future conduct for failing to control their players during the Premier League match against Manchester United.
The club had admitted the charge, which related to the conduct of Chelsea players towards referee Mike Dean following the sending-off of John Obi Mikel during the Old Trafford clash on September 23rd.
Mikel was red carded in the first half of his side's 2-0 defeat for a studs-first challenge on United defender Patrice Evra.
The Football Association Regulatory Commission hearing also fined Chelsea assistant first team coach Steve Clarke £5,000 - suspended until the end of the season - after he admitted a charge of using abusive and/or insulting words towards the match officials at the end of the same match.
The commission took into account Clarke's exemplary record over 20 years in football - but he was also severely censured and warned as to his future conduct.
Midfielder Mikel served a three-match ban immediately after the FA rejected an appeal against his red card.
Michael Ballack, meanwhile, is nearing full fitness and keenly awaiting his return to action. The midfielder has not played since April because of an ankle problem which has so far required two operations.
Chelsea have been working closely with Germany's medical team in a bid to get the international back to full fitness.
And Ballack told Germany's Premiere TV today: "It looks good for my comeback. I expect that I will be fit again and be playing this year.
"The problem was that I was told the injury would take three or four weeks so I kept working towards my comeback every week and waited for the pain to ease. That took a while.
"It is always frustrating for a player if you don´t know when the injury is healed. But I am thinking positive right now because the pain is almost gone."
The 31-year-old dismissed any talk of a move away from Stamford Bridge.
He added: "Why should I leave? I never said I was unhappy at Chelsea. It's nobody's fault that I am injured. The break will be over and things will continue."
