Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel "quite clearly" instigated the row with his Tottenham counterpart Antonio Conte after the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge earlier this month, a Football Association (FA) commission has found.
Tuchel was hit with a one-match touchline ban, which was temporarily suspended, and fined £35,000, while Conte was fined £15,000 after the pair squared up to each other during a coming together over their post-match handshake.
Both managers were shown a red card by referee Anthony Taylor for the ensuing fracas, having been booked for clashing earlier in the match, and admitted FA charges of improper conduct last week.
Their sanctions were determined by a three-person Independent Regulatory Commission, who have released the written reasons for their decisions.
Tuchel said Conte refused to look him in the eye during the handshake, which he took as a "sign of disrespect", and claimed the Italian acted "very aggressively" in the aftermath.
Conte claimed he did not "overreact" to Tuchel holding onto his hand - a view the commission agreed with - and said he was "proud" of the way he handled the situation.
The commission's written reasons concluded that the coming together would not have happened if Tuchel had let go of Conte's hand sooner and said there was no justification for the German's behaviour.
"It was quite clearly TT who instigated the confrontation between himself and AC by choosing to grip AC’s hand and jolt him back after AC had passed him by,” read the commission’s report.
"Had TT not gripped AC’s hand the confrontation between the two and the subsequent melee that followed would not have occurred;
"TT gripping AC’s hand for the reason he gave (AC did not look him in the eye) was simply not justifiable; cursory handshakes are a common occurrence at the end of highly charged football matches and there exists no obligation for one person to look the other in the eye whilst shaking hands;
"TT telling AC to look him in the eyes whilst gripping his hand and not allowing AC to move away was a highly provocative act;
"AC was unwillingly pulled, literally, into the confrontation with TT; AC did react aggressively to TT’s actions but the Commission did not consider him to have hugely overreacted given the circumstances."
Tuchel has until Thursday to respond to a separate FA charge of questioning the integrity of the referee for suggesting after the match that Taylor should not officiate Chelsea matches in future.
Both Spurs goals were controversial, with Tuchel feeling Richarlison was offside for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's strike and VAR Mike Dean deciding not to recommend action against Cristian Romero for appearing to pull the hair of Marc Cucurella before Harry Kane's stoppage-time equaliser.
Dean has since admitted that he should have recommended Taylor consult the pitch-side monitor to review the incident.
