The Football Association has fined Cardiff City £15,000 after the club’s fans aimed homophobic chants at Chelsea during their League Cup tie.

Premier League side Chelsea beat League One Cardiff 3-1 in an EFL Cup quarter-final at the Cardiff City Stadium on 16th December.

Cardiff said in a statement that they have been issued with an “action plan” by the FA for the “abusive, offensive, homophobic and discriminatory ‘rent boy’ chant” heard during the second minute of the fixture.

It has been reported that a Cardiff spokesperson has  said that while Cardiff acknowledge the charge and accept the incident happened, they will be lodging an appeal against what they believe to be an “excessive” fine imposed.

The spokesperson told the BBC that the club will present evidence that they took “all reasonable measures” to educate and inform, as well as acting “immediately on the night” with removal of individuals and big screen messaging.

A club statement read: “The chant is defined as a homophobic slur and was made a prosecutable offence for anyone found to sing or use the words by the Crown Prosecution Service in January 2022. The Football Association considers this specific chant a breach of FA Rules (rule E21) and has thus pursued formal disciplinary action the club.

“The imposed action plan remains active until the conclusion of the 2026-27 season and will include the development of existing initiatives in respect of awareness and accountability.

“The club acknowledges the sanction. Cardiff City Football Club has a zero-tolerance policy to all forms of discrimination and will continue to work with the police and governing bodies to eradicate the scourge from our game and society.”

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