Cole handed FA fine

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been hit with a £20,000 Football Association fine after admitting breaching social media rules.The 31-year-old, who was also "severely warned" as to his future conduct, had been charged following an exchange with a Tottenham supporter after West Ham's 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.Cole has well over 100,000 Twitter followers and was responding to a message from the Spurs supporter Stuart Hardy that said: "Hi @CarltonCole1 when your own team-mates don't kick the ball out when you're lying injured for 2 mins, you think it's time to call it a day?", Cole replied: "F off you c***" before later deleting the tweet.But he was charged by the FA, which confirmed he had been fined with a short statement on its website."Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA Rules in relation to social media," it read."The West Ham United player, who was also severely warned as to his future conduct, admitted posting a comment on his Twitter account which was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, in breach of FA Rule E3."Cole, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him off during the game at Tottenham, will look at Rio Ferdinand as an example of how to avoid future misdeameanours.The QPR defender was handed a three-game ban earlier this season for a second FA charge over social media activities - with the former England captain not contesting the suspension despite labelling the severity of the decision as 'crazy'.

Source: PA