Antonio Conte has been banned from Tottenham’s dugout and dressing room for Tuesday’s crucial Champions League match at Marseille. The manager was sent off by the referee Danny Makkelie in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at home against Sporting Lisbon for his remonstrations after Harry Kane’s stoppage-time strike was disallowed.
Uefa confirmed it would impose the sanction spelled out in its disciplinary regulations that “a player or an official sent off from the field of play and/or its immediate surrounds, including the technical area, is automatically suspended for the next match of the competition in which the expulsion occurred”.
Conte will not merely be missing from the touchline in Marseille, where Spurs need a draw to qualify for the last 16. He will not be permitted to make contact with his players at Stade Vélodrome before or during the fixture and will have to sit in the stand.
The regulations state: “A team manager/coach or other team official who is sent off or suspended from carrying out his function may not be in the technical area or communicate directly with the team’s players and/or technical staff during the match … In addition, a team manager/coach or any other team official who is suspended from carrying out his function may not enter the dressing room or tunnel before or during the match.”
Further punishment could come Conte’s way once Makkelie has handed in his match report of the Group D fixture. Had Spurs won they would have qualified for the knockout phase.
Conte was still seething when he spoke afterwards and Uefa may also investigate his post-match comments. During his short press conference, he accused VAR of being dishonest and creating “big damage” and insisted it would not have disallowed Kane’s goal had it been for a “top team, in an important game” before he walked out after one question.