Why Romero will escape punishment for Cucurella hair-pulling incident
FT Desk
- 15 Aug 2022 16:45 BST
- 3 min read
Tottenham defender Cristian Romero will not face retrospective punishment for tugging on Marc Cucurella's hair during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Chelsea.
The two London rivals played out an entertaining but fractious derby at the weekend, in which Harry Kane salvaged a point for his team with a last-gasp equaliser.
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Managers Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel were pictured screaming at each other on the touchline late on, with the Chelsea boss incensed that his side were not given a free-kick shortly before Kane's strike.
Romero pulled on Cucurella's hair at a corner, an incident which prompted referee Anthony Taylor to refer to VAR.
But VAR official Mike Dean did not see anything wrong with the incident either, to Tuchel's evident displeasure.
Why won't Romero be charged?
Hair-pulling is something of a grey area in the football lawbook, which will allow the Argentine to avoid punishment.
It is not noted as an automatic violent conduct offence, meaning that referees must use their own judgement to determine whether the ferocity of the tug merits a red card.
If not, officials can judge unsporting conduct took place and hand the aggressor a yellow.
Since VAR has already checked the incident, moreover, Romero's hair pull cannot be reviewed after the game, meaning he does not risk facing potential retrospective charges.
Tuchel's reaction
Tuchel slammed Taylor and the VAR team after the game, expressing his disbelief that no free-kick was forthcoming.
"Should Taylor stop refereeing us? Maybe it would be better," he fired.
"But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decisions. Since when can players be pulled at their hair? Since when is that? And if he does not see it, I don't blame him.
"I didn't see it, but we have people at VAR who check this and then you see it and then how can this not be a free-kick and how can it not be a red card? How?
"This has nothing to do with the referee in this case. If he does not see something, that's why we have people to check if there's a decisive error going on."
