Premier League stars have been warned not to step out of line on Twitter as the English Football Association responded to a spate on controversies involving the micro-blogging website.
Liverpool's Ryan Babel became the first player to be sanctioned for comments made on Twitter last month when he was fined £10,000 for posting a mocked-up picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt.
Arsenal's Jack Wilshere also drew criticism after he complained of "inconsistent refereeing" on his Twitter account following the Gunners' stormy 4-4 draw at Newcastle. Wilshere escaped punishment for that incident but the FA have now made their hard-line policy clear. An FA statement read: "The FA has issued clarification to participants relating to the use of social networking sites, including, but not limited to Twitter, Facebook and internet blogs.
Players have also been warned that even though they believe their postings are only visible to a limited number of selected people they may still end up in the public domain.