The Football Association have confirmed Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele has been charged with an alleged act of violent conduct and will receive more than the usual three-game ban for his clash with Diego Costa this week.
The Belgium international clashed with Chelsea striker Costa during the fiery clash between Spurs and the Blues on Monday night at Stamford Bridge.
Replays showed Dembele appeared to gouge the 27-year-old striker’s eye during a touchline fracas – an incident which was missed by referee Mark Clattenburg at the time.
While Clattenburg missed it, that has now allowed the FA to act retrospectively and they have released a statement confirming they have issued three charges against a whole host of parties.
Two of those are for Chelsea and Tottenham for failing to control their players, while Dembele has been given a separate charge for his incident with Costa.
The FA go on to confirm that it is likely Dembele’s incident will result in a ban longer than three games – usually given for acts of violent conduct.
The official FA statement read: “Both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have been charged for three breaches of FA Rule E20 for failing to control their players and/or officials.
“It follows incidents which occurred in the 45th and 87th minutes and also at the end of the game at Stamford Bridgeon Monday night [2 May 2016].
“Both clubs have until 6pm on Monday 9 May 2016 to respond to their charge.
“Meanwhile, Mousa Dembélé has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video during the same game.
“The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was involved in an incident with Chelsea’s Diego Costa near the end of the first half.
“Further, it is alleged the player’s behaviour constituted violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment of three matches that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient.
“The player has until 6pm on Thursday 5 May 2016 to respond to the charge.
“Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees.
“Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence.
“For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision of the panel must be unanimous.”
The news will be a big blow to Mauricio Pochettino’s side, with 28-year-old Dembele – a key player for the Lilywhites this season – set to miss the rest of the season and even the start of the next campaign.
While Spurs’ title bid has come to an end this week, Dembele will be hoping his antics do not deter the club from their aim to finish second behind champions Leicester City.
Monday’s London derby was as fiery as they come, with referee Clattenburg issuing 12 yellow cards and nine of those to Spurs.
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