BURTON UPON TRENT —England's soccer stars are to be issued with a code of conduct to bring them in line with other major sporting bodies in an attempt to govern their behaviour when they are on and off international duty. The new disciplinary procedures were outlined to England's
players for the first time when they met on Monday at the new National Football Centre in Burton to prepare for Friday's World Cup qualifier against San Marino. The scheme marks the culmination of eight months of work by Club England managing director Adrian Bevington and his fellow board members — director
of Football Development Trevor Brooking, general secretary Alex Horne and FA chairman David Bernstein — and they stressed the decision was not a knee-jerk reaction to any recent indiscretions by England players such as Ashley Cole. Cole has been charged by the FA for labelling the English game's governing body "a bunch of twats" last week in response to the questioning of his evidence in the John Terry racial abuse hearing.