Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur has been banned from playing football in the Premier League for four matches and has been fined £40,000 for climbing into the stands to confront a fan. The 26-year-old England international committed this offence since March 4, 2020, after Norwich City knocked Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup.
Tottenham fans and some pundits thought that the English Football Association has forgiven the Tottenham star just like how the football governing body forgave Arsenal‘s Matteo Guendouzi after grabbing Brighton striker Neal Maupay around the neck.
Instead, the football governing body issued a statement earlier today to announce that the versatile defensive footballer has been banned for four matches, meaning that he would only have one match to play this season when he finished serving the ban.
After English FA announced that they would not punish Arsenal’s Matteo Guendouzi, the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Jose Mourinho, recalled the three months incident and hoped that Tottenham would enjoy the same privilege that Arsenal enjoyed.
But that of Eric Dier has proven to be different since it involved a football fan who paid to watch the FA Cup and a player who ran straight to the stand to attack the fan after losing a match to a lowly Norwich City. The Metropolitan Police were involved in the matter and conducted a brief investigation before they dropped it since there was no physical assault.
The incident reportedly started when Dier noticed that a fan was harassing his brother on the stands. Hence, immediately Tottenham lost the penalty shootout to Norwich, he decided to race to the stand to fight for his brother. Though Jose Mourinho condemned the action, the Portuguese tactician said he would have probably done the same thing if he was in the shoes of the Tottenham star.
“I think Eric Dier did something that we professionals cannot do but in these circumstances, every one of us would do”, he said. “Because when somebody insults you and your family is there and you get involved with the person that is insulting you, in this case, a younger brother, I think Eric did what we professional we cannot do.
“But I repeat, probably every one of us would do. I repeat, we professionals we cannot do, but I repeat I am with the player and I understand the player.”
However, the English Football Association did not think the same way and had to sanction him for misconduct.
While announcing the ban, the FA said: “Eric Dier has been suspended for four matches with immediate effect, fined £40,000 and warned as to his future conduct following a breach of FA Rule E3.
“The Tottenham Hotspur FC player admitted that his actions at the conclusion of a fixture against Norwich City FC in the FA Cup on March 4, 2020, were improper but denied that they were also threatening. An independent Regulatory Commission subsequently found Eric Dier’s actions to be threatening.”
Here is Eric Dier trying to attack a fan
Eric Dier just came into the stand and had a fight with fan next to me 😱 pic.twitter.com/nMGVcDWegX
— Jascha Selby (@jselby123) March 4, 2020
