Cole, Chelsea and Mourinho charged

Arsenal defender Ashley Cole, Chelsea and their manager Jose Mourinho have been charged over the long-running "tapping-up" row, the Premier League said on Wednesday.

League leaders Chelsea have been charged with a breach of Rule K3 over an illegal approach to Cole, said to have taken place in a London hotel in January, while Mourinho has been charged over a breach of managers' conduct.

England international Cole, who is contracted to Arsenal until 2007, faces charges over breaking Rule K5, which governs approaches by players to other clubs.

The Premier League Board has asked for a formal response to the charges within 14 days and has begun the process of appointing a three-person independent commission to determine the matter.

Cole's agent, Jonathan Barnett, and Pini Zahavi, who acts for Chelsea, are outside the jurisdiction of the Premier League, although the statement said the Board would forward information gathered during the inquiry to the Football Association with regard to their actions in the matter.

ILLEGAL APPROACHES

Chelsea issued a statement saying: "(the club) acknowledges receipt of the Premier League charges and will continue to co-operate fully with the commission process."

Mourinho initially denied that he and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon had met Cole, saying he was in Milan speaking with (Inter Milan) striker Adriano when the meeting supposedly took place.

Cole has never denied that the meeting took place, although the circumstances remain

His manager Arsene Wenger, however, has gone on record blaming Chelsea for the episode.

"I am convinced the meeting took place, although that has not been confirmed," he said earlier this month.

"This case is very sad and very unfortunate because you don't expect your neighbours with that power to behave like this."

It is not the first time a club has fallen foul of Premier League rules regarding illegal approaches to players.

Liverpool were fined 20,000 pounds ($37,640) for their approach to former German international Christian Ziege when he was still at Middlesbrough in 2000, with Ziege also being fined 10,000 pounds.

Aston Villa were also warned and ordered to pay costs for making an illegal approach to former Southampton striker James Beattie last year.

The Premier League charges complete a miserable week for Chelsea who have been involved in a bitter row with UEFA, who have accused the club of lying over an incident at their Champions League match in Barcelona.

European soccer's governing body charged Chelsea on Monday with bringing the game into disrepute, specifically citing Mourinho, his assistant Steve Clarke and security man Les Miles.

Chelsea had accused Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard of speaking to referee Anders Frisk in his dressing room at halftime of their first leg tie in the Nou Camp.

Chelsea lost that first leg in Spain but won the tie on aggregate to go through to the last-eight of the Champions League.