Following the scuffle between Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte in the 2-2 draw on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, the independent regulatory commission has explained why a one-match ban was handed to Tuchel and Conte was exempted.
Aside from the one-match ban handed to German, he was also fined 35,000 pounds while Conte was fined 15,000 pounds.
On that fateful day, both managers resolved to antagonise themselves in the London derby raising tension in Stamford Bridge. It was a fierce cracker between both teams on the pitch why on the sidelines, after the
final whistle, Tuchel and Conte aggressively shook hands which almost led to a fight.
In its report, the independent regulatory commission explained that from its investigations, Tuchel was responsible for engineering the open confrontation with Conte with his aggressive handshake.
The independent regulatory commission added that if the German coach had abstained from gripping Conte’s hand the incident would not have occurred.
“It was quite clear Tuchel instigated the confrontation between himself and Conte by choosing to grip the latter’s hand and jolt him back after he had passed him by,” the report stated.
“Had he not gripped Conte’s hand the confrontation between the two and the subsequent melee that followed would not have occurred. Tuchel gripping Conte’s hand for the reason he gave was simply not justifiable,” the independent regulatory commission continued.
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“Cursory handshakes are a common occurrence at the end of highly-charged football matches and there exists no obligation for one person to look the other in the eye whilst shaking hands.
“Tuchel telling Conte to look him in the eyes whilst gripping his hand and not allowing Conte to move away was a highly provocative act.
“Conte was unwillingly pulled, literally, into the confrontation with Tuchel. Conte did react aggressively to those actions but the commission did not consider him to have hugely overreacted given the circumstances.
“Conte did remain irate after he had extricated himself from Tuchel’s grip and others had separated the two. Conte appears to enter into a brief but heated verbal exchange with the Chelsea player, Cesar Azpilicueta, before leaving the pitch.
“The confrontation between Tuchel and Conte caused a mass gathering of staff, players and stewards that could easily have escalated the situation.
“Whilst certain aspects of Conte’s behaviour could be considered as being improper, indeed he admitted as much, the commission considered Tuchel to be largely culpable for the incident and unanimously felt that this ought to be clearly and definitively reflected in the level of sanction imposed on them,” the report added.
Consequently, Tuchel, in Chelsea’s match against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, will sit at the dock with assistant Arno Michaels expected to take charge of the team.
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