The Football Association have dropped the axe on Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele, handing the 28-year-old a six-match ban.
The Belgium international clashed with Chelsea striker Diego Costa during the heated game between Tottenham and the Blues on Monday night.
Replays showed Dembele appeared to gouge Costa’s eye during a touchline fracas – an incident which was missed by referee Mark Clattenburg at the time.
While Clattenburg missed it, that allowed the FA to act retrospectively and they charged him earlier in the week.
The FA also went on to say at the time that a three-match ban was “insufficient” for his actions, and today have handed him three on top of that.
The news will be a tough one to take for Mauricio Pochettino, who today admitted Dembele was wrong but did not deserve a very harsh ban.
The full statement from the FA read: “Mousa Dembélé will serve a six-match suspension with immediate effect after he committed an act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.
“The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder accepted the charge but denied The FA’s claim that the standard punishment of three matches which would otherwise apply to this offence was clearly insufficient.
“An Independent Regulatory Commission upheld The FA’s claim at a hearing today [Friday 6 May 2016] and ordered that an additional three-match suspension was appropriate.
“The player was involved in an incident with Chelsea’s Diego Costa in or around the 45th minute of the fixture at Stamford Bridge on Monday [2 May 2016].”
It also means Dembele will miss the rest of the current season for Spurs, while missing the first three competitive games of next season.
The former Fulham midfielder has been one of the club’s best performers this season and his absence will be a big blow to Pochettino, despite Spurs already being out of the title race.
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