JOSE FURY AT DIER’S FOUR-MATCH BAN
FA say fan face-off was ‘threatening’
JoSe MoURiNho hit out at the Fa yesterday after they gave eric Dier a four-match ban for climbing into the stands to confront a supporter.
The Tottenham manager also revealed that the supporter got in touch with the club to apologise for his behaviour.
The 26-year- old defender, who was also given a £40,000 fine, was trying to help his younger brother, Patrick, who had become involved in an argument after Tottenham’s Fa cup home defeat by Norwich in March.
Mourinho explained that the fan had contacted the club to say sorry to Dier, whom he had called a ‘w*****’ and f****** c***’. Mourinho added that the person would be welcome back at the Tottenham hotspur Stadium.
evidence also showed that the supporter said he did not feel threatened by Dier, who received an unsolicited character reference from england manager Gareth Southgate.
But the Fa panel disagreed, writing that they found Dier’s actions to be threatening — a decision which angered
Mourinho, whose team will travel to Bournemouth tonight without Dier.
in an apparent dig at the Fa, Mourinho added: ‘My feeling is that in the majority of the cases, football is not protected by the people that are powerful. Powerful people — they don’t belong to the tribe.
‘and they don’t have the feelings. They don’t have the know-how and it’s very, very difficult to lead something when you don’t have a clue about the world that you are leading.’
The Portuguese added: ‘The beauty of football is the fans. i want them back as soon as possible. even that specific fan, especially because the fan had the opportunity to apologise to the player, to understand that we are very well paid but we are not robots. We have families and friends that support us in the stadiums.
‘it was a good opportunity for that fan to turn his profile and become a different fan. it was his own decision to do it, because the person in this case, first of all, is a Tottenham fan and was sorry about what happened.
‘The way i was told, he had the dignity to want to apologise to him. it was a nice thing that, in normal circumstances, especially after saying that he never felt under threat at any moment of the situation, would be enough for a fair decision.’
Tottenham are not planning to appeal against the decision as they fear a worse punishment could then follow.