ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:CHELSEA have been fined £20,000 by the English Football Association after admitting a charge of "failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" in last week's Premier League match against QPR.

The fine was imposed after Chelsea players surrounded referee Chris Foy following Jose Bosingwa’s red card during the 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road.

The FA announced the fine in relation to the incident and they also asked Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas to explain his post-match comments to the media about Foy and the assistant referees.

The FA said they are still considering Villas-Boas’ response and have yet to decide whether to take any action.

Chelsea Pitch Owners chairman Richard King confirmed his resignation from the board, 24 hours after Roman Abramovich’s bid to purchase the Stamford Bridge freehold ended in failure.

King concluded a stormy extraordinary general meeting of CPO, during which Abramovich’s proposal was defeated, by announcing he would make a statement about his future on Friday. That was widely interpreted as a hint he planned to stand down, which he did yesterday afternoon after eight years as chairman of the company set up by the club in the 1990s to prevent them being made homeless by property developers.