Last year he went on French TV while wearing Puma clothing. But France are sponsored by Adidas, and they made a huge fuss which forced the French governing body to inflict this ridiculous punishment: £35,000. Apparently, Adidas calculated that this was how much his thoughtless actions cost them. More like a deterrent, we reckon.

Pires says he'll pay the fine, but he won't be stopped from speaking out about it. "Players are used as banks," he says, which is a little OTT IMO (it's not like they don't have plenty of money). But it's nice to see Bobby taking the opportunity to bring anti-racism into the story, and he's right: there is an extraordinary contrast between his fine and that which the Spanish authorities handed to Luis Aragones for his remark about Thierry Henry. Pires' fine is larger by a factor of TEN! And Di Canio's fine for a dodgy salute was only 7 grand.

Meanwhile, Pires confirms he's not happy about being left in the cold by France boss Raymond Domenech. Once again he was left out of the squad for the world cup qualifiers, and it seems there's little chance of him playing again under Domenech. Crazy, perhaps, given his understanding with France regulars Vieira and Henry (Wiltord too). I guess it's a reflection of how many strong players the French have to draw on. For us Arsenal fans though, going into this week which could so easily leave us without Paddy or Tel for the FA Cup and league runners-up run-in, it's nice to know that at least Bobby and Dennis won't be picking up any new injuries.