Football Association investigates attack on Chelsea players by fans during QPR win

The Football Association will contact Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea to ask for their observations after Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic were both struck by missiles thrown from the Loftus Road crowd while celebrating a late goal by Cesc Fabregas.

Ivanovic appeared to be hit by a lighter while Matic had a coin throw in his direction after Fabregas netted an 88<sup>th winner for the Premier League leaders, during a bad-tempered West London derby.

Despite the incidents being captured by television cameras and photographers, the FA will follow regular practice and contact both QPR and Chelsea to establish the exact events which led to the crowd unrest.

The FA will also seek to establish whether Rangers took all the necessary security measures before the game to ensure the incidents could have been prevented while the post-match report from referee Andre Marriner will also be assessed.

A QPR club statement read:

The club takes the safety of all supporters and players very seriously and are currently reviewing CCTV footage of the aftermath of the goal in an attempt to identify those responsible. Whilst we understand that passions run high during derby fixtures, this is not the kind of behaviour the club condones in any way, shape or form.

We take a zero tolerance approach to this sort of behaviour and, if the perpetrators are identified, they will be banned indefinitely from the stadium and, where appropriate, we will liaise with the Metropolitan Police. The club are awaiting communication from the FA following the referee's report and will work closely with them in ensuring something like this does not happen again.

"We would also appeal to fans with any information regarding yesterday's incident to contact the club, as we feel it's important to identify the perpetrators as soon as possible, as we believe they are not a true representation of the QPR fan-base.

QPR face a hefty fine if found guilty of having not sufficiently prepared for the fixture, but should they escape FA action, Hoops manager Chris Ramsey endorsed the club's policy and wants to see fans handed life bans should those guilty of directing objects at the Chelsea players be identified.

"We don't want any objects thrown on the pitch. We know the hostilities between fans can sometimes go too far and if that is the case we'd like to make sure that's not somebody who is encouraged to come back into the club," said Hoops.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho downplayed the incident despite seeing two of his most important players injured in the episode.

"The game was correct. Correct on the pitch, correct in the stands and hopefully correct outside," said Mourinho.

"It is not easy, because emotionally it's a big game for them and a big game for us. The referee [Andre Marriner] also helped because he is a very stable man who didn't create problems for the game, he solved them.

"But I think both teams deserved credit because, in a very emotional game, they were very correct. If in the end of the game somebody threw a pound, put the pound in your pocket and go. If it is chocolate, eat it. No problem. Everybody needs a pound. Never throw a pound away."