Alasdair Gold has revealed this in his column for Football.London that Cristian Stellini could escape with a fine rather than having to serve a suspension after his red card against Brighton.
There was plenty of bad blood between the Brighton and Tottenham benches, with Roberto De Zerbi seen angrily confronting Stellini even before kick-off.
According to reports, the Brighton boss is thought to have taken offence to comments made by Stellini in midweek in which he said the 43-year-old had simply carried on the good work of his predecessor Graham Potter (Sky Sports).
The tension boiled over during the match, with Tottenham’s fitness coaches, Stefano Bruno and Costantino Coratti, along with goalkeeping coach Marco Savorani, clashing with the Brighton staff.
Despite Stellini staying clear of the tussle, the Spurs interim head coach was shown a red card along with his Brighton counterpart.
Gold has now explained via Football.London that the 48-year-old was shown a red by referee Stuart Attwell due to Law 12 in the FA rulebook which states that the head coach is responsible for controlling his staff.
However, the journalist explained that Stellini’s red card does not necessarily mean that the Italian would have to serve a suspension.
He asserted that the incident will be reviewed thoroughly by the FA and that the Tottenham man could be fined rather than being asked to serve a touchline ban.
Spurs Web Opinion
The rule of the manager having to control his staff makes sense from a practical point of view.
One can also argue that Bruno, Coratti and Savorani would not have reacted in that manner if Conte was in charge, and only did so due to the leadership vacuum at Spurs.
However, it would be extremely harsh on Stellini to ban him and I do expect the FA to let him off with a slap on the wrist on this occasion.
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