Chelsea consider taking legal action over Diego Costa ban

Diego Costa has been handed a three-match ban following his antics on Saturday, in which he wound up Arsenal's Gabriel Pualista to the point that the center back kicked out at the Chelsea forward and got himself sent off. Costa appealed and had his suspension upheld, while Paulista hilariously won his appeal against a straight red for violent conduct and will be free to resume playing.

According to The Telegraph, the Blues aren't particularly happy with these developments, and aren't ready to accept the forward's ban until they've seen the written reasoning for the decision, which is expected later in the week. Here's what the paper had to say on the matter:

The club are refusing to comment on the matter until they receive the written reasons for Costa’s ban, which should arrive at Stamford Bridge by the end of the week, but it is understood Chelsea are already considering their options.

One option that has been discussed would be to push for an arbitration hearing if Chelsea do not believe the Football Association’s written reasons are acceptable.

That would require a three-man panel, with Chelsea and the FA choosing one member each, and a chairman to be agreed upon, reviewing Costa’s case once again.

Frankly, this seems foolish, even if the FA appears to be throwing darts in the dark in terms of their decisions following the match (or in general, for that matter). It's hard to believe that an arbitration panel will see fit to overturn Costa's suspension, one match of which will have been served already.

That said, given the consistently inconsistent nature of FA decision making, the club might as well fight the issue, hoping to use that to their advantage.