Exclusive: Charges on the way after Chelsea vs Tottenham ‘mass confrontation’
Chelsea and Tottenham will both be charged after the Premier League clash between the two sides at Stamford Bridge, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that both clubs are facing punishment following a melee between the two groups of players just before half time in that game.
Enzo Fernandez scored the only goal of the game from a Cole Palmer cross to give Chelsea 1-0 win over Spurs on Thursday night (3 April).
That has piled yet more pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham fans continue to call for his sacking.
Now there could be more problems for Spurs, as well as there London rivals, to deal with in the wake of this match.
Levi Colwill and Cristian Romero spark on-pitch melee
As the game entered into first half stoppage time with the score still locked at 0-0, referee Craig Pawson blew for a foul not far outside the Chelsea penalty area.
Levi Colwill then picked the ball up as he appeared to question that decision, prompting Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and James Maddison to run over to the centre-back.
The Chelsea star then fell to the ground after appearing to be pushed in the chest by Romero, leading to an angry clash between the two sides.
| Tottenham last five games | Result |
| AZ Alkmaar (A) | Lost 1-0 |
| Bournemouth (H) | Drew 2-2 |
| AZ Alkmaar (H) | Won 3-1 (won 3-2 on aggregate) |
| Fulham (A) | Lost 2-0 |
| Chelsea (A) | Lost 1-0 |
Numerous individuals from both clubs became involved in a melee outside on the pitch, which took some time to settle down before the free kick was eventually taken, with Rodrigo Bentancur needing to be separated from Trevoh Chalobah.
Now, Hackett expects that to lead to repurcussions for both sides, while he also praised Pawson for his handling of the situation.
‘Chelsea and Tottenham face FA charges’ – Keith Hackett
After being asked by Football Insider if the FA could take action over that incident, the former referee said:
“In the first half of the Chelsea vs Spurs game we witnessed a mass confrontation between both sets of players after a player had been pushed to the ground.
“Craig Pawson carried out the mass confrontation protocol really well. At the end of this game he will issue a report to the football authorities detailing what has taken place.
“As a result of that I expect both clubs to be charged with failing to control their players.”
Both clubs are next in action on Sunday afternoon (6 April), when Chelsea travel to Brentford and Tottenham host Southampton.