Jose Mourinho reveals Eric Dier met fan whose abuse led to Tottenham defender's four-match ban

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Eric Dier met with the supporter whose abuse led to his four-match ban and says the gesture should have been enough for a "fair decision" for the Tottenham defender.

Dier will be unavailable until the final day of the season after an independent commission ruled his behaviour "clearly threatening" following an FA charge for entering the stands to confront a Tottenham fan after their FA Cup exit to Norwich in March.

The commission heard that the fan shouted expletives at Dier before becoming embroiled with the 26-year-old's brother, Patrick.

Both Dier and the supporter were interviewed by police and, in a statement to the Met, the latter insisted he did not feel threatened and admitted he was "being an idiot". The four-person panel rejected this position and argued it was "much more likely...he was afraid [and] felt threatened".

Mourinho, who declined to comment on the ruling except to say that an appeal is unlikely, revealed the supporter met with Dier to apologise, which the Spurs manager feels should have led to a more lenient sanction.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Norwich City | 04/03/2020

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"The fan had the opportunity to meet the player, had the opportunity to apologise to the player, had the opportunity to understand that we are very well paid but we are not robots," Mourinho said ahead of Thursday's visit to Bournemouth.

"We are very well paid but we have families and friends that support us in the stadiums. So I think it was a good opportunity for that fan to turn his profile and become a different fan.

"It was his own decision to do it, because the person in this case, first of all, is a Tottenham fan and was sorry about what happened. The way I was told he had the dignity to want to apologise to him. It was a nice thing that, in normal circumstances, especially after saying that he never felt under threat at any moment of the situation, would be enough for a fair decision."

Half of the four-man regulatory commission – Premier League title-winner Stuart Ripley and journeyman ex-Watford forward Tony Agana – were former players, who said they understood the abuse players received from the stands.

Mourinho nonetheless claimed the ruling highlighted the lack of protection for players, managers and coaches from the game's lawmakers.

"My feeling is that in the majority of the cases, football is not protected by the people that is powerful and doesn’t belong to this world," he said. "That’s simply my feeling.

"Powerful people – that doesn’t belong to the tribe. And they don’t have the feelings. They don’t have the know-how, and it’s very, very difficult to lead something when you don’t have a clue about the world that you are leading."

The FA, who charged Dier with a breach of Rule E3, admitted the situation was without precedent but argued for a six-match ban, with the commission eventually settling on four after taking into account Dier's apology, his wish to protect his brother and unsolicited testimony from England manager Gareth Southagte, who spoke "in glowing terms of [Dier]'s maturity, leadership qualities and of his close family ties".

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Mourinho also heralded Dier's personality and potential, and claimed he was the wrong person to be made into an example.

"He’s a top level boy," Mourinho said. "He’s one of these guys that looks older than he is, the way he thinks, you can see the example that he is at the social level, you can see his profile even socially without being married with kids, he looks really a family stable guy, very easy to communicate with and it’s not because he speaks perfect Portuguese.

"It’s not because of that that our communication is so, so easy. He’s really a young guy with a lot of potential, part of his football qualities, a young guy with a lot of potential. To choose somebody to be the face of this decision, I think is the wrong guy.

"Of course he is [a leader], he is one of the captains. To wear or not to wear the armband in a certain match is not the most important thing. A team needs more than one leader.

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"It happens many, many, many, many times that the real leaders in some dressing rooms are not even the captains. I have to say that is a great situation to have the captain of England and the world champion captain in the same dressing room.

"So that’s a good starting base. When I keep opening the door for a certain kind of leadership that I want, with time, he’ll feel with more confidence and with more freedom, he can exert that leadership."

Mourinho said two of Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen would start at centre-half at the Vitality Stadium.

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