Kepa Arrizabalaga Fined by Chelsea for Carabao Cup Final Incident
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was fined Monday after he refused to be substituted during extra time of the team's League Cup final loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
The team fined Kepa one week’s wages and donated it to the Chelsea Foundation.
The team also released new statements from Arrizabalaga and manager Maurizio Sarri. Kepa had previously apologized to Sarri.
"I was very happy to play in my first Cup Final for Chelsea yesterday and very proud of the team performance," Kepa said in a statement. "I have thought a lot more about yesterday’s events. Although there was a misunderstanding, on reflection, I made a big mistake with how I handled the situation. I wanted to take the time today to apologize fully and in person to the coach, to Willy, my teammates and to the club. I have done this and now I want to offer the same apology to the fans. I will learn from this episode and will accept any punishment or discipline the club decides is appropriate."
Sarri reiterated it was "a misunderstanding," but added "Kepa realizes he made a big mistake in the way he reacted."
Toward the end of extra time, Kepa went down with a cramp. Although he got back to his feet, Sarri tried to replace him with Willy Caballero. But, Kepa refused to go off and angrily waved his arms in the air, causing Sarri to become angry with him.
Manchester City went on to beat Chelsea in PKs after a 0-0 draw, with a 4–3 shootout victory.
