Jose Mourinho blasts 'unfair' Dele Alli ban and defends meeting Tanguy Ndombele for training in lockdown
Alli will miss Tottenham's game against Man Utd after he was suspended for one match for 'racial stereotyping' in a social media video
By Jason Burt, Chief Football Correspondent 18 June 2020 • 10:30pm
Dele Alli was punished for his social media post
Jose Mourinho has strongly criticised the “unfair” one-match
ban imposed on Dele Alli for his social media post mocking an Asian man over coronavirus and said others have escaped punishment for far greater transgressions during the lockdown.
The Tottenham Hotspur head coach admitted he was one of “the examples” of that after he was photographed appearing to flout social distancing guidelines as he met record signing Tanguy Ndombele on Hadley Common in north London for an apparent training session.
But Mourinho also launched a defence of his actions saying what he had done was not only a “very, very, very small mistake” but had not been reported accurately. He claimed he was only helping Ndombele to work his “WiFi GPS” vest and added that others players he was pictured with “were players from a Championship club not a Premier League club and I was there at the right distance having a little talk with them and the pictures gave the idea I was with my players which was not true. It was still a mistake”.
Mourinho was criticised for his actions which, at the time, he said he accepted “were not in line with government protocol”, but ahead of Tottenham’s first Premier League game back following the three-month lockdown break, at home to his former club Manchester United, he was clearly frustrated at the punishment handed to Alli.
Mourinho confirmed that Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko are all fully fit and will start the game, which is vital to Spurs’ hopes of trying to close the gap and qualify for the Champions League. Jan Vertonghen is also involved despite his contract ending on June 30 and an extension not yet agreed.
Harry Kane is fully-fit again after injury Credit: GETTY IMAGES
But Alli is suspended after being found guilty of “racial stereotyping” in his video. The 24-year-old was also fined £50,000 by the Football Association and ordered to undertake an educational course for the post, sent to his 160 friends on Snapchat, which was leaked and showed him wearing a face mask near an Asian man as he waited for a flight to Dubai.
The FA did not try and prove Alli was racist but rejected his argument that his victim was only targeted for having a cough. However, Mourinho said there should have been greater understanding. “I feel very sorry that Dele is not playing,” he said. “He's a player that works so, so hard during all this period and he's really frustrated that he cannot play the first match. I don't want to say much more than I don't think he deserves a one-match ban compared with wrong behaviours at much bigger dimensions that happened during this period without any consequences.”
Mourinho added: “Lots of people in football and even outside football, lots of mistakes were made and I don’t like this kind of contradiction. So I just feel it’s for everybody or it’s for nobody and I think it’s quite unfair to a kid who made a mistake and apologised for it. I really don’t agree with it. But of course one thing is not to agree and another thing is not to respect. And I respect the decisions.”
Similarly Mourinho said there should have been more understanding from the FA than to belatedly charge Eric Dier for misconduct after he climbed into the stands to confront an abusive fan and fearing his brother was in danger.
“If this story is still ‘live’ it surprises me very, very much,” he said before raising the campaign by United striker
Marcus Rashford that forced a government U-turn on free school meals during the summer holidays. “We have now even with Marcus Rashford the proof that what is right is right and sometimes this is really, really powerful in support of the right causes that I thought this was that case. And if it is not that case I would be very disappointed with that,” he said.
Fifth-placed United will arrive at Tottenham in what could be the final Champions League qualifying spot, should Manchester City’s ban be upheld, and with Mourinho’s side four points behind. With only a nine-game mini-season to go, defeat is unthinkable for Spurs while a victory would significantly change their prospects.