FA Cup: Chelsea vow to ban fans who threw coins at Man City players

Premier League giants Chelsea have vowed to issue stadium bans and support police action once the club identifies the supporters who threw coins at Manchester City players at Stamford Bridge during the FA Cup tie on 21 February.

The FA Cup was marred by such incidents for the second day in a row after some of the Chelsea supporters threw coins at David Faupala and his City teammates who were celebrating the 18-year-old's debut goal in the corner of the pitch, near the Blues fans.

Chelsea's interim manager Guus Hiddink slammed the supporters and voiced his disapproval against the actions. "I was aware. I can easily say 'no, I am not aware' - but I was aware. I like to always face the facts," Hiddink said.

"There were coins thrown to the Manchester City players in their celebration. We condemn it, I condemn it strongly and Chelsea, I think they will react. Those people, they must not come into stadiums," he further added.

Chelsea's head of communications, Steve Atkins, also condemned the behaviour of their fans and said: "We condemn such idiotic and dangerous behaviour. If we can identify those responsible, then we will ban them from Stamford Bridge."

"It is worth noting it is a criminal offence, too. We will support any police prosecution if we can identify, along with the police, the individuals responsible for their behaviour today," he said.

Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who fielded a weakened side in the wake of the Champions League clash, said he did not know about the incident in the 37th minute of a game which Chelsea eventually won 5-1.

On 20 February, West Bromwich Albion captain Chris Brunt was also witness to a similar incident when he was struck in the face by a coin which was thrown by a supporter of his team after their side suffered a 1-3 defeat by second tier Reading.

Brunt had gone over to applaud the fans for their support at the end of the match. "They though it was OK to throw a coin at their own players. I'm disgusted. They paid a lot of money to come, but a small minority spoil it," Brunt told BBC, with a cut clearly visible under his eye.

The English Football Association is also investigating the incident involving Brunt. "We strongly condemn any such behaviour and will work with both clubs and the authorities to identify those responsible," the FA said in a statement.