UEFA announced a surprise suspension for Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho in the Europa League competition.
Mourinho has been handed a one-match suspension by UEFA for his role in Tottenham’s late arrival for a Europa League match against Antwerp on October 29.
UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) declared the Portuguese responsible for his squad arriving late to the Bosuilstadion. It stated the ban was ‘deferred for a probationary period of one year, starting from the date of the present decision’.
In addition, Tottenham have a €25,000 fine for the late kick-off and a further €3,000 fine for violating the UEFA equipment regulations.
UEFA has handed a suspended one match ban to Jose Mourinho and a couple of fines to Tottenham Hotspur due to actions that delayed the start of the match against Royal Antwerp. https://t.co/0iRVX6ltH7 pic.twitter.com/LBZEMZP8kL
— Cartilage Free Captain (@cartilagefree) November 13, 2020
The game itself ended in a 1-0 defeat for Spurs after Mourinho made nine changes to his line-up for the trip to Belgium.
“Look, you know what our best team is,” said the head coach afterward as quoted by Football London.
“You know the same thing that I know, that everybody knows. But I always like to think the players deserve an opportunity. We have a big squad with lots of good players.
“It’s my responsibility to give them opportunities to play and also their opportunity to catch the chance with both hands and be in conditions to ask for more. And tonight my future choices are going to be very easy.
“But again, there’s only one responsible. Not the players. It’s my responsibility because it’s my decision to play.”
Mourinho’s side, however, defeated Ludogorets 3-1 last time out to sit on top of Group J in the Europa League after three games.
Spurs will return to action on November 21 in a Premier League match against Manchester City at home before welcoming Ludogorets to London for another Europa League clash five days later.
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