FA Charges Spurs, West Ham following Kudus kerfuffle

We’re a little late on this one, but the breaking news from yesterday was an announcement from the English Football Association with regards to the melee that broke out in Tottenham Hotspur’s match against West Ham United on the weekend. The FA announced in a statement that both clubs, as well as the instigator Mohammed Kudus, have been charged with improper conduct:

Obviously, there was always going to be more to come from the outbreak of violence from Spurs’ 4-1 win over the Hammers, with Kudus deciding it was time for an early Slapsgiving celebration and doling out a couple of incidences of violent conduct (note the wording around violence after both West Ham and Kudus’ charges, which is missing from Spurs’ summary). Kudus could have been red carded three times over, after intentionally kicking Micky van de Ven whilst on the ground, before striking both the Dutch defender and fellow Lilywhite Pape Matar Sarr in the face while being restrained by his teammates.

After the initial scuffle between van de Ven and Kudus, the Spurs squad understandably reacted, and that’s what the FA want to clamp down on here. They always frown on players taking matters into their own hands, clearly expecting teams to leave on-pitch matters to the referee.

You know, the referee who from pretty close range saw a player get kicked on the ground, hit in the face, and then decided to award both players yellows.

Well done boys, good process.

Look, I’m probably being a bit flippant at this point. The whole situation was a bit ridiculous. I expect Spurs to maybe get a small fine for all the players rushing in. The Prem does not like vigilante justice. I would hope the punishment for West Ham and Kudus would be much more significant.