August 22, (THEWILL) – On Sunday, August 14, 2022 the English Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur got fiery enough to bring managers of both clubs to fisticuffs but for the timely intervention of officials and team members.
The managers, who had had an incident at half time, were again at it after the final whistle that referee Anthony Taylor had to add to the yellow card he had previously given both by flashing a red card in front of the pair of managers.
The cause of their squabble, the role played by the video assistant referee and the position of the Football Association in response to their behaviour is a story of how feisty passions can get in football and how mistakes are still a factor in how matches end.
While the players for the Blues and Spurs both excelled on the field, with Harry Kane tying the score in the final seconds, Tuchel and Conte were the headline grabbers. For most of the game, the two managers yelled at each other from the sidelines, which resulted in an initial caution from the referee.
To pepper the other, each manager made sure to celebrate in front of the other whenever their team scored a goal. For instance, when Reece James netted a late goal for Chelsea, Tuchel sprinted down the sidelines in jubilant exuberance, believing they had claimed full points but Kane’s late header gave Conte the last laugh as it was his turn to rub it in.
This was the state of things until the game ended in a 2-all draw. After the final whistle, tempers naturally flared when both managers received their red cards for an incident that will go down in Premier League annals.
At the conclusion of the game, Conte and Tuchel proceeded to shake hands as is standard practice in the EPL, but the interaction swiftly evolved into a near brawl. Tuchel appeared unwilling to release Conte’s grasp and the latter whirled around angrily to face him. There was a very brief exchange of angry words before referee Taylor arrived and the swift reaction of the coaching staff and players that intervened saved it from getting any worse.
Tuchel said in a post-game interview that he was not pleased that Conte did not look at him when they shook hands, but he quickly clarified there was no animosity between them: “I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other’s eyes, he had a different opinion. It’s emotional, football. We don’t need to heat it up. You have emotional coaches on the touchline and that’s it. If we meet, we meet. If not, then not. Come on guys, it’s between two competitors and nothing bad happened.
“There is no hard feeling [with Conte]. I feel like it was a fair tackle from him and a fair tackle from me. We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams and from my side there is absolutely no hard feelings. I’m surprised that we both got a red card for that.”
On his part, Conte was quick to dismiss the need to dwell on the tussle between both managers after the game. He said: “In my opinion I think it’s better to talk about the game. I don’t want to comment because I think this isn’t the most important thing and if there is a problem, it’s between me and him and not the others.”
Reacting swiftly the England FA issued the following statement, charging both managers to provide a football response of their altercation as it was in breach of the existing rules of expected behaviour: “Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte have both been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3, following the Premier League fixture between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 14 August 2022. It is alleged that the behaviour of both managers was improper following the end of the fixture. Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte have until Thursday 18 August 2022 to provide their respective responses.”
One contentious part of the game that fed the squabble between the two managers came via an oversight from the match officials, as it became obvious in the days that followed that feisty Sunday brouhaha. Chelsea were furious that the last-gasp equalising goal was allowed to count. They were justifiably aggrieved that new Blues’ defender Marc Cucurella had his hair pulled by Spurs’ player Cristian Romero moments before the ball flew into the net off of Kane.
The referee Taylor overlooked the incident and therefore did not give a foul. It was later revealed that the VAR official, Mike Dean, reneged on his responsibility as the one who ought to have requested that Taylor give the incident a more balanced look through the replays and angles on the pitch-side monitor so as to make a more informed decision about such a crucial time in the game.
It was only when the game was done and nothing could be done to effect a change in the final result did Dean openly confess to have been wrong and directly admit that the refereeing team got the Cucurella-Romero call wrong. Accept culpability and indicating that mistakes were made, Dean wrote: “I asked referee Anthony Taylor to wait while I looked at the incident involving Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella. I could not award a free-kick as VAR, but I could recommend to Taylor that he visit the referee review area to consider a possible red card. In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella’s hair, I didn’t deem it a violent act. I’ve since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitch-side monitor to take a look for himself. The referee on field always has the final say. It goes to show that no matter how experienced you are, and I’ve spent more than two decades as a Premier League official, you are always learning. It’s disappointing for me as this was one incident in an otherwise very good weekend from our officials. Decisions are debated – that’s the life of a referee.”
This “mea culpa” that did nothing to the outcome of the game did not please either of the managers. Tuchel was direct in his reaction, expressly admitting to not being impressed: “Well hopefully I’m not too honest, but if the mistake is that big and that obvious, what’s the point of not admitting it if the whole world sees it? I struggle to be fully impressed by the statement. It’s so clear and obvious I cannot understand how a referee cannot make the right decision.”
By Friday, after the expiration of the period allowed for the managers to respond to the charge of improper conduct by the FA, it handed down fines as penalties for their conduct. The FA statement about the resolution of the situation read: “An independent regulatory commission has today ordered that Thomas Tuchel be fined £35,000 and banned from the touchline for one match, and Antonio Conte be fined £15,000 after they respectively breached FA Rule E3. Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte admitted that their behaviour after the final whistle of the Premier League game between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday, August 14, 2022, was improper, and both managers requested a paper hearing. These sanctions are subject to appeal, and Thomas Tuchel’s one-match touchline ban has been suspended temporarily pending the independent regulatory commission’s written reasons for its decision that will be made available in due course.”
In the end, it is hoped that the admission of both coaches that there is no bad blood between them and rather that the passion of the game got the better of them should be a lesson for football players, coaches and fans everywhere to learn to exercise full control of their passions so that they do not boil over and take attention away from the beauty of the game. Furthermore, the admission of the Dean that he could have allowed referee Taylor take another look at the infringment, which is the whole essence of the VAR, should be another lesson for match officials so as to remove all suspicions that teams and fans have about the bias that some match officials have against certain EPL teams and which errors like Dean’s only serve to make worse. These lessons, if imbibed by all, will be the best outcome of that feisty London Derby of Sunday, August 14 at Stamford Bridge.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
