Ange Postecoglou and Micky van de Ven have both questioned the FA’s decision to fine Tottenham after West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus “punched” the Netherlands defender in the face last weekend.
The FA confirmed on Wednesday that Tottenham had been fined £20,000 for failing to “ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way” during the 4-1 win against West Ham on October 19.
Kudus’ foul on Van de Ven in the 82nd minute sparked a melee between both sets of players, with the defender hitting the ground shortly before his team-mate Pape Matarr Sarr was also shoved by Kudus.
The West Ham forward was initially shown a yellow card by referee Andy Madley but this was later upgraded to a red following a check from VAR.
West Ham were hit with the same fine as Tottenham and Kudus has also been charged with violent conduct following the incident.
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After scoring the opening goal for West Ham to put them ahead in the London derby, Mohammed Kudus sees red for an altercation late in the match
Van de Ven: Kudus punched me in the face
Van de Ven has since given his perspective of the altercation, where he questioned the FA’s decision to fine Tottenham after Kudus “punched” him in the face.
He said: “I had a duel with Mohammed Kudus and fell down on the ground. I had a feeling that he kicked too much through the ball and hit me like three times. I was a bit mad and stood up and pushed him.
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“Then he literally punched me, he punched me in the face and I went down. I didn’t know what happened afterwards.
“That was the situation. If the FA say you need to get fined, it’s not how I think about it. I think it should be a different situation.”
Postecoglou: I don’t see what we did wrong
These claims were echoed by Postecoglou, who has stated his players were innocent of all wrongdoing after Kudus “lost his composure” during the loss.
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“I’m not sure what we did wrong,” he said when asked about the decision. “Yes, there was a coming together but a couple of our players had hit the deck by then, so you would like to think we would go in there and protect them.
“I thought our players controlled themselves but the FA felt differently. I didn’t feel like there was anything edgy in that game at all. Kudus lost his composure but I don’t think that’s like him.
“If there was anything more, there is plenty of video evidence. The look isn’t great.”
Tottenham admitted to the charges of improper and/or provocative conduct in the game and accepted the standard penalty.