Cristian Romero won’t be subjected to retroactive punishment for pulling Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella’s hair during Sunday’s London derby since doing so is not a violation of the game’s rules.
Romero was spotted pulling on Cucurella’s hair during the contentious last minutes of the Premier League game on Sunday night as Spurs executed a dramatic comeback.
After reviewing the event, VAR referee Mike Dean determined that Chelsea was neither due a free kick nor a red card. Harry Kane scored from another corner kick that referee Anthony Taylor immediately authorized Tottenham to take, forcing the game to end in a 2-2 draw.
Thomas Tuchel, the manager of Chelsea, was incensed by the closing play and the decision not to penalize Romero and give Chelsea a late free-kick. The German head coach pleaded with the officials to overturn the goal all to no avail.
Romero won’t be punished further for his violent behavior since VAR reviewed the judgment. Retrospective action is only permitted when an occurrence on the field is missed by both the match officials and the video officials in real time and is not included in the post-game report.
Spurs would not have been able to score from that particular attack if referee Taylor had seen the event in real-time and awarded Chelsea a free kick.
Football rules do not clearly mention yanking hair, unlike rugby rules. The referees must determine if the extent of the hair tugging constitutes violent behavior; if not, it would likely be seen as unsportsmanlike conduct and result in a yellow card.
Was Cristian Romero Wrong for yanking Marc Cucurella’s hair?
Cristian Romero participated actively in Sunday’s 2-2 draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
As Harry Kane’s late equalizer gave Antonio Conte’s team a share of the victory, the Argentine made some forceful tackles and got into some controversy in the end.
Romero was spotted yanking Marc Cucurella’s hair in the box from a corner before Spurs scored. Even though the VAR looked into it, there was no punishment. Chelsea would have received a free kick and the second corner would not have occurred if VAR had determined it merited a red card.
After Kane scored, Romero appeared to be in a vicious mood as he appeared to yell at James, who had given Chelsea the lead.
Tuchel Blasts Referee
In his news conference following the game, Tuchel expressed his belief that referee Taylor should no longer be permitted to officiate Chelsea matches because, in his opinion, both of Tottenham’s goals on Sunday should have been disallowed.
Taylor disagreed with Chelsea’s assessment that Kai Havertz was fouled during the buildup to the first goal. This season, there is a higher threshold for fouls to enhance the flow of games, but VAR chose not to investigate it since it wasn’t thought to be in the same attacking phase of play as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s opening goal for Tottenham.
“Maybe it would be better [for Taylor not to officiate Chelsea’s games]”, Tuchel said on Sunday.
“But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decisions. Since when can players be pulled at their hair? Since when is that? And if he does not see it, I don’t blame him.”
The FA is anticipated to look into Tuchel’s remarks about Taylor. Post-match criticism of a match official’s performance or competence in the media or on social media is unacceptable according to the league’s code of conduct.
However, depending on the seriousness of the incident and the “participants'” history, the FA may charge them or formally warn them, remind them of their obligations, or take no further action if the comments imply bias, attack their integrity, are personally offensive, protracted, or particularly unreasonable.
After Tottenham’s first goal and after the game’s conclusion, Tuchel and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte were both involved in separate touchline incidents. The FA will review the referee’s report and game footage before determining whether to charge both managers.
