Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel will not be allowed on the touchline for Saturday's Premier League match against Leicester City after the FA rejected his appeal against a ban.
Tuchel was given a red card for his part in a bad-tempered end to Chelsea ’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham on August 14 following a feisty encounter with Antonio Conte. The FA later decided to fine Tuchel £35,000 and give him a suspended one-game touchline ban after he was deemed to be the instigator of the fracas after the final whistle.
After the match, Tuchel also criticised referee Anthony Taylor, suggesting that "maybe it would be better" if Taylor never refereed his side again. Those claims are separate to the touchline ban decision.
The Chelsea manager appealed the decision, but the FA has rejected his plea. He will now have to watch Saturday's 3pm kick-off against Leicester from the stands.
“It was quite clearly TT who instigated the confrontation between himself and AC by choosing to grip AC’s hand and jolt him back after AC had passed him by,” the FA commission’s original report read. It added that “AC was unwillingly pulled, literally, into the confrontation” and “did not consider him to have hugely overreacted”. Conte received a £15,000 fine but no touchline ban.
In his appeal to the FA, Tuchel said he felt the touchline ban was "excessive in all the circumstances". He argued that the FA had 'attributed excessive weight' to his culpability. He also highlighted his previously clean disciplinary record.
But the FA replied that they were happy with their take of the handshake incident and rejected Tuchel's contention that his behaviour was 'at the lowest end of the scale of improper conduct'.
Before he knew the outcome of his appeal, Tuchel spoke at length about it during his pre-match press conference on Friday. “My understanding was that we both had our impact in this situation and both got sent off,” he said. “I can understand that I get a ban, I get a fine. What I don’t understand is that the other coach does not get the same punishment. Is hard to understand for me.”
He added: “I think there are two sides to it. The one side is that I got the red card and behaved in a way which is not appropriate and which I regret, but it was out of passion. It was not too aggressive, it was out of passion. I can accept if I get a red card during the match – if this is the decision – I have a touchline ban and am fined. This is one side to it, I don’t dispute it and accept it.
"What’s hard to accept is the context. I don’t think I started the aggression, it started earlier. I don’t think I was the only person involved; we both got a red card. A player pulled another player by its hair two minutes earlier. He can play on, he is not banned. For a firm handshake at the end of the match, one coach is banned. This is very hard to accept but I have accept it. Putting it into context, I cannot understand."
