FA rejects Spurs' red card appeal

Tottenham Hotspur failed in its attempt to overturn Son Heung-min's recent red card against Chelsea. The South Korean star was sent-off in the 62nd minute of last Sunday's match, that the home team lost 0-2. Son was found guilty for kicking Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.

On Tuesday, the Football Association (FA) confirmed that Son's dismissal would stand. This means that the former Bayer Leverkusen player will now miss three upcoming Premier League fixtures for Spurs over the next eight days. He won't be eligible to play against Brighton (Thursday), Norwich City (Saturday) and Southampton (New Year's Day).

So far this season, Son's performance has been impressive. He played 23 matches for Tottenham across all competitions, in which he netted the ball ten times.

A VAR review suggested that Son kicked Rudiger in the ribs during Sunday's match. Accordingly, head referee Anthony Taylor sent him off the ground.

Later, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho indicated that the club would appeal against the decision. He further claimed that Rudiger overreacted, which forced the officials to show Son a red card. However, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard rejected such claims.

Mourinho believes Rudiger should be put under scrutiny for his overreacting role in the incident, instead of Son. The Portuguese wished Rudiger well in his recovery from "broken ribs" with a sarcastic tone. He also added that the German international's over-the-top reaction should be investigated.

However, the Blues' boss, Lampard, strongly stood in Rudiger's defence. The German also alleged that he had been the subject of the crowd's monkey chants during the game. Lampard said, "With Toni, in this incident when he's having to post after the game about something we know is a huge deal [racism], I think to question his integrity in that time is disappointing for sure. Pretty universally, certainly what I heard in the commentary and the post-match reflection was that the Son incident was a red card. It wasn't brutal but it was instinctive that warrants a red card in the modern-day."

While the Spurs-Chelsea encounter was ongoing, referee Anthony Taylor chose not to penalise Son for his tackle on Rudiger. However, VAR official Paul Tierney had different thoughts and he immediately advised Taylor to issue a red card against the South Korean forward.

This marked Son's third red card in 2019. Last November, he tackled Everton's Andre Gomes, which broke the midfielder's ankle. As a result, Son was shown a red card and the player also faced serious rage from the fans. Spurs had appealed against the Gomes incident as well, and interestingly, they won the appeal.