FA to investigate Drogba bio´s punch claims

The Football Association (FA) on Monday said it would launch an inquiry into Didier Drogba's comments in his autobiography that he should have punched Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic.

In the book the Chelsea striker said he wished he had punched the Serbian after being sent off during the Champions League final in May.

However, the FA said they would study the remarks to ascertain if the Ivory Coast star had brought the game into disrepute.

“We are aware of the comments and will be examining them in their proper context,” an FA spokesman said.

Drogba wrote: “I have seen the match on video and I believe I should not have been sent off with three minutes to go.”

He added: “If I had punched him, I would have understood. Now I wish I had.”

It is not the first time that the FA have launched an inquiry into comments made by a player in his autobiography.

In 2002, Roy Keane was banned for five games and fined 150,000 pounds after the Manchester United star admitted deliberately injuring Leeds United's Alf Inge Haaland.

Keane claimed it was an act of revenge after the Norwegian had accused him of feigning injury three years before when he ruptured his cruciate knee ligament.

Drogba's red card in the Champions League final in Moscow prevented him from taking a crucial penalty in a shoot-out, which Chelsea eventually lost.

In Drogba's book the striker also claims that he was happy to remain at Chelsea under new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.