Tottenham Hotspur’s time in the FA Cup came to an end with Wednesday’s loss to Norwich City in a penalty shootout, but all the talk from North London didn’t concern the result on the field.
After the match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs’ Eric Dier entered the stands, made his way far up to the end of a lower-level section and got into an altercation with a fan.
The incident wasn’t captured on the match broadcast, but photos and videos hit social media showing the 26-year-old English midfielder confronting someone in the crowd. At some point, security stepped in and got Dier out of the stands.
Eric Dier has just run up to the west stand lower and has been involved in an altercation with a #THFC fan
— The Spurs Web ⚪️ (@thespursweb) March 4, 2020
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
It was initially unclear what prompted Dier to make his way into the crowd. Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said after the match that it concerned comments about his family. Via Yahoo Sports:
“I think Eric Dier did what we as professionals cannot do but when someone insults you and your family is involved, especially your young brother. This person insulted Eric, the younger brother was not happy with the situation and Eric was not happy.
“We as professionals cannot do what he did.”
According to Sky Sports’ Kate Mason, Mourinho would not confirm whether racism was involved — prominent Twitter accounts speculated that racial abuse towards Tottenham players was the alleged cause of the ugly scene.
Jose says Dier went into the crowd because of an incident involving his younger brother and a fan. He did not confirm racism was involved
— Kate Mason (@kvlmason) March 4, 2020
Tottenham, as a club, has yet to comment on the incident beyond Mourinho’s remarks.
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