Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has slammed FIFA's decision to award Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United their Fair Play award on Monday.

Bielsa and his players were awarded the Fair Play Award for allowing Aston Villa to score against them in April.

Renowned coach Bielsa, currently in his second season at Leeds and in English football, caused something of a stir in January when he admitted to having watched all of United's opponents train.

The club was fined £200,000 as a result - a penalty Bielsa paid out of his own pocket - and the 64-year-old was the subject of some derision as a result.

Lampard, in charge of Derby last season, said: “I don't think it's right, to be straight.

“It's strange. Everyone had the same reaction. There was a lot of news about “SpyGate," at the time, quite rightly so, and it got dealt with in the right way – and when you go and give an award for fair play in the same year, it's strange.

“I don't know who votes for it. Everyone knows what happened with 'Spygate' – it is well documented. The rules changed because of it and they were fined.

“I felt it was improper, to get a fair play award off the back of that. I thought it was irony at first.

“It was a dead rubber against Villa. The game had slowed down to the point of the ball going out, and it was quite right they gave Villa the opportunity to score.

“It was quite right to level out the balance of what had happened. That was that. But it was a strange decision for them to win."