Tottenham and Chelsea Have Been Fined by The FA
The Football Association has finally fined Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for their failure to control their players during a Monday night fixture on May 2nd.
In a way, this fine by the FA is mostly just adding insult to injury after Tottenham suffered their worst lost during the Mauricio Pochettino era. A 5-1 loss to relegated Newcastle United yesterday, and abruptly ending a successful season with a third place finish instead of clinching second.
Related Story: Tottenham's Mousa Dembélé Banned for Six Games
For Tottenham, they have been hit with multiple incidents during the past four weeks. Not only did Spurs go on a winless streak with two draws and two losses.
But they also lost two key members through suspensions: Dele Alli (three games) and Mousa Dembélé (six games).
Adding on top of all of this negativity is the fact that Tottenham have been fined £225, 000 whereas Chelsea got hit with £375,000 by the FA.
According to the Football Association, both clubs were fined “after they admitted to three breaches of FA Rule E20 for failing to control their players and/or officials.”
The difference in money between Tottenham’s fine compared to Chelsea’s is minuscule when Spurs lost Mousa Dembélé for the final two games of this season and the opening four fixtures next term. Because of an eye poke.
That alone is already worse than what the Blues suffered because it appears that none of their players were banned for any of the incidents that took place on the pitch. Considering some of the late challenges were initiated by Chelsea in the first place. Which is why Spurs retaliated the way they did.
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But, moving on, here is more information — or rather a recollection of what happened — and why both teams have been docked money:
“It follows incidents which occurred in the 45th and 87th minutes and also at the end of their fixture at Stamford Bridge on Monday 2 May 2016.”
“Prior to this fixture, Chelsea had breached FA Rule E20 on four separate occasions and Tottenham Hotspur twice since November 2014.”
“Following the Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, both clubs were also warned as to their future conduct.”
The last sentence is interesting to say the least. Because should Tottenham breach FA Rule E20 once again, no matter what the incident is, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone is banned for more than three or six games.
So long as the Football Association deems a Spurs player’s actions violent enough, that player in question will suffer a lengthy suspension. Which explains why Dembélé received a six-match ban for an eye poke whereas Alli only got a three-match ban for a stomach punch.
An eye poke, while dangerous, shouldn’t be considered violent enough.
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Therefore, the only thing that Tottenham can do now is to head into next season and learn to control themselves better before more suspensions and fines start hitting Spurs more often.
The only good thing that came from these multiple incidents during the Chelsea match, is that Tottenham aren’t a “soft” team anymore. And that they can stand toe-to-toe with the big clubs in the Premier League without backing down from a fight; especially when it comes to a London derby.