The English Football Association has announced that Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel will be banned from the touchline for the Blue's clash with Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. It comes after the German coach was charged with breaking FA Rule E3 in an altercation with Tottenham manager Antonio Conte.
Tuchel wasn't banned for the clash away at Leeds the following week as the appeal process went through. However, after an independent panel looked over the case, he was fined £35,000 and will miss the home tie against Foxes on Saturday.
The FA statement reads: "Thomas Tuchel will be banned from the touchline for Chelsea FC’s Premier League match against Leicester City FC on Saturday 27 August 2022. The manager admitted that his behaviour after the final whistle of the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 14 August 2022 was improper.
"An independent Regulatory Commission subsequently ordered for him to be fined £35,000 and suspended from the touchline for one fixture during a hearing. Thomas Tuchel appealed against these sanctions, but this has been dismissed by an Appeal Board today."
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It comes after the Chelsea boss was involved in a heated London derby against Tottenham, where his side took the lead twice but failed to make chances pay in a familiar tale that saw them draw 2-2. Several key incidents sparked clashes, involving refereeing decisions that the Blues felt aggrieved by.
The home side took the lead through Kalidou Koulibaly before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg levelled things with a strike from the edge of the box, though there were claims for a foul and an offside in the build-up. Opposite number Conte celebrated in front of Tuchel, leading to an initial confrontation with the benches being separated.
Reece James restored the lead for his side, but tensions flared once again in injury time as first Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair only for it not to be judged as a foul or a red card. The subsequent corner led to a last-gasp equaliser by Harry Kane.
After the whistle blew, the two managers went to shake hands, but the Chelsea boss clearly took issue with how swiftly the Spurs head coach wanted to leave by not looking at him when they did so. That led to yet another incident that had to have the two broken up by staff and players alike.
Conte received a fine for his part in the debacle, though avoided a touchline ban, while Tuchel has now received a one match suspension for his role in it. Ahead of the clash with Leicester, the boss opened up on his thoughts over a potential ban, saying: "We are waiting for the response.
"I think there are two sides to it," He added. "The one side is that I got the red card and behaved in a way which is not appropriate and which I regret, but it was out of passion. It was not too aggressive, it was out of passion.
"I can accept if I get a red card during the match – if this is the decision – I have a touchline ban and am fined. This is one side to it, I don’t dispute it and accept it.
"What’s hard to accept is the context. I don’t think I started the aggression, it started earlier. I don’t think I was the only person involved; we both got a red card. A player pulled another player by its hair two minutes earlier. He can play on, he is not banned. For a firm handshake at the end of the match, one coach is banned. This is very hard to accept but I have accept it. Putting it into context, I cannot understand."
The ban means that one of the coaching staff will have to take over on the touchline, with assistant manager Arno Michels doing so against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup earlier this year.
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