02 October, 2013

AVB calls Torres decision 'a disgrace' The FA's decision not to take action against Chelsea's Fernando Torres for scratching Jan Vertonghen's face was "a disgrace" and "farcical", Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said on Wednesday.


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The FA's decision not to take action against Chelsea's Fernando Torres for scratching Jan Vertonghen's face was "a disgrace" and "farcical", Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said on Wednesday.
Television replays showed the Spaniard digging his fingers into Vertonghen's face after the two came together following Torres's trip on the Belgian which earned him a yellow card during Saturday's draw at White Hart Lane.
"It's extremely difficult to know where to start," Villas-Boas said ahead of his side's Europa League clash with Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in Moscow.
"Obviously, it is almost a farcical decision. It doesn't matter to me which player or club is involved."


Torres was later sent off for a second yellow card following another clash with the defender and the FA said on Tuesday that as a match official saw the first "coming together of the two players, albeit not in its entirety", it could not take retrospective action.
The striker would have faced a further three-game suspension if the FA had decided to charge Torres with violent conduct.
"Neither do I want to with my words put into question Fernando's integrity; neither their manager's, in trying to defend what is our position," added Villas-Boas.
"I think the FA has made a decision almost a joke. It looks incredible. How can you see the images, pretty clear, and come out without punishment on something which overtakes all professional behaviour?
"I think the decision is a disgrace. If the committee can't solve such clear images I don't think it sets out a good first example.

"I think the FA has lost all opportunity to put some sense into the images everybody saw."
Torres was given a one-match ban for the sending-off but would probably have missed Chelsea's game at Norwich City on Sunday anyway after picking up a knee injury in the Champion's League win over Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday.

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