Tottenham’s Eric Dier has been charged with misconduct for jumping into the stands to confront a fan after his side’s loss to Norwich in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
The English FA said in a statement that Dier’s actions after the match back in March were alleged to be “improper and/or threatening.”
“Eric Dier has been charged with misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3,” the FA said in a statement.
The player has until 8 May 2020 to respond to the charges.
Spur’s loss to Norwich on penalties that night put more than a few tempers on edge at the Tottenham Stadium.
As Spurs’ players made their way off of the pitch following the disappointing loss, their fans made their anger clear to them.
One fan must have gone a little too far, however, as Dier abandoned his trek to the dressing room and instead darted to the touchline, leapt over the advertising hoardings and raced up the stands.
Dier shrugged off several attempts to stop him as he progressed up the stands to confront the fan.
He was eventually restrained, with a great deal of effort, by the stewards.
The whole incident was captured by the fans as the England international went past them.
One angle showed Dier jumping over the hoardings ad darting up the stands.
Another, much closer shot, showed Dier being restrained as he tried to confront the fan.
Eric Dier just came into the stand and had a fight with fan next to me 😱 pic.twitter.com/nMGVcDWegX
— Jascha Selby (@jselby123) March 4, 2020
Some social media accounts initially claimed Dier went to fight the fan after he shouted racial abuse at Spurs player, Gedson Fernandes who had missed his kick in the shootout, although this claim was not corroborated.
https://twitter.com/SpursUnfiltered/status/1235334462373797888
After the match, Spurs head coach, Jose Mourinho said Dier, who had his family in the stands, had been insulted by the fan.
Although Mourinho believes the player did not act too professionally, he added that the circumstances involved made the player’s response at least understandable.
“I think Eric did what we professionals cannot do but probably every one of us would do,” he said
“I repeat we professionals cannot do it, but I repeat I am with the player and I understand the player. The fans were with the team until the last penalty kick that we missed. This person insulted Eric, the family was there, the younger brother was not happy with the situation.”
Dier played the entire 90 minutes and extra-time for Spurs against Norwich.
He scored from the spot in the shootout but two saves from Norwich keeper Tim Krul knocked Spurs out of the cup.
The FA Cup and the Premier League have however since been suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
