Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele could face an extended ban.
The fallout from Tottenham Hotspur’s bad tempered clash at Chelsea is still being felt, and midfielder Mousa Dembele has the most to lose.
The Belgian midfielder was pictured jabbing his hand towards the eye of Chelsea striker Diego Costa, in an incident which was unseen by the referee, and can be punished retrospectively by the FA.
The Sun report that the FA are considering the incident an ‘extraordinary event’, and Dembele could face a 10 game ban, rather than the usual three matches for violent conduct.
This would rule Dembele out of the final two games of this season and first eight of the next. If fixture dates correspond to this campaign, it would mean he would not be able to feature in domestic fixtures until October, although he would be eligible for earlier Champions League games.
It would leave Tottenham with a big hole to fill in midfield, and while there are players they hope will step up like Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb, the ban could influence Spurs to even sign a midfielder in the summer if head coach Mauricio Pochettino is not enamoured with the ready made replacements.
A 10 game ban is of course the most severe punishment, and it could well be lower, while Spurs could also appeal any punishment if they deem it too severe.
In their favour would be a similar incident in which the FA took no action, involving former Chelsea ace Fernando Torres and Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen, which fans have been keen to point out on social media.
Here is a look at how Spurs fans reacted to the report…
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