Mousa Dembele is set to accept an FA charge for violent conduct for his alleged eye gouge on Chelsea’s Diego Costa, however the player and Tottenham will contest the FA’s decision to extend the ban further, according to Sky Sports.
Both Tottenham and Chelsea will face punishment for failing to control their players after a heated London derby descended into chaos after the final whistle.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino accepted Dembele’s behaviour, but also stressed to take the context of the game into account.
Pochettino said: “If you play with your friends, you play for honour or for beer or food, you want to win.
“Sometimes when you run a lot and you are under stress, you can cross the line. Mousa [Dembele] knows if you cross the line, you need to pay, but this can happen in football. We cannot justify, but we can understand.”
The FA said that the three game ban would not suffice.
An earlier statement said: “It is alleged the player’s behaviour constituted violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment of three matches that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient.
“Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees.
“Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence.
“For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision of the panel must be unanimous.”
