Tottenham's Eric Dier given four-game ban over fan confrontation

The England international has been sanctioned by the Football Association on a charge of misconduct for the incident, which happened on March 4.

Dier, whose team had just lost a penalty shootout, saw his brother being abused by a fan and jumped to his aid. There was no physical exchange and the matter was not pursued by the police after a brief investigation.

"Eric Dier has been suspended for four matches with immediate effect, fined £40,000 and warned as to his future conduct following a breach of FA Rule E3," it said in a statement.

"The Tottenham Hotspur FC player admitted that his actions at the conclusion of a fixture against Norwich City FC in The FA Cup on 4 March 2020 were improper but denied that they were also threatening.

"An independent regulatory commission subsequently found Eric Dier's actions to be threatening."

The punishment rules Dier out for all but one of Spurs' remaining Premier League games this season, but Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said he would not appeal despite previously stating he did not believe a ban would be fair.

"I don't think so honestly because if you appeal, you have other risks and at least let's start next season without a suspension. We all know how it works at these FA decisions," said Mourinho.

The Portuguese coach recently said he did not expect Dier to receive any punishment after the FA chose not to sanction Arsenal's Matteo Guendouzi for grabbing Brighton striker Neal Maupay around the neck.

"I am not going to answer, If I answer I am going to be in trouble and I do not want to be," added Mourinho on the severity of Dier's ban. "I will cope with (Toby) Alderweireld, Davinson (Sanchez) and (Jan) Vertonghen."

Dier has played every minute for Tottenham since the Premier League's restart at centre-back and Mourinho said that is where he plans to keep the England international next season after a long period playing in midfield both for club and country.

"I  think he had a strange last season and also a very strange current season," added Mourinho. "We made a decision together, always with an eye to transforming him to a centre-back which is where he feels happier and more comfortable.

"Even on the period on individual work when we were working with the players via Zoom, we were working with him with the idea of being a centre-back. He became much more adapted to the needs of that position."