Dier entered the stands in the aftermath of the defeat on penalties and scaled several rows of seats in an attempt to confront of fan, who was said to have been abusing Dier and become involved with the player’s brother.
The incident happened in a corporate section behind the dugouts, where players’ families sit, and Dier was seen to be saying, ‘That’s my brother’ in one of a number of videos posted to social media in the aftermath. Dier was said to be calm after the match and left the stadium via a back route after being visited by his brother in the dressing room.
The supporter in question was identified and spoken to immediately and Spurs could seek his side of the story as part of an internal investigation into what happened, with Dier set to give his version of events this morning.
In Pictures | Tottenham vs Norwich City | 04/03/2020
At this stage, the club are said to be fully supportive of Dier and are not thought to be planning to discipline the 26-year-old. Jose Mourinho, the Spurs manager, said that he “would not agree” with a club punishment. The FA are unlikely to be so lenient, however, with the governing body seeking observations from Dier and the club this morning, while they may also seek to speak to the supporter.
The FA are investigating whether Dier broke any specific rules by entering the stands but, regardless, they could conclude that he has brought the game into disrepute and seek a punishment.
The Met Police said they were aware of the incident but as of this morning had not received any complaints. Mourinho said: “Eric Dier did something that we professionals cannot do but in these circumstances every one of us would do. Because when somebody insults you and your family is there and you get involved with the person that is insulting you, in this case a younger brother, I think Eric did what we professionals we cannot do. But I repeat, probably everyone of us would do.”
The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Norwich forward Josip Drmic cancelling out Jan Vertonghen’s early header. Spurs trio of substitutes Erik Lamela, Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes missed penalties as Norwich won 3-2 on spot-kicks to set-up a home quarter-final against Manchester United or Derby.
Mourinho said he would tell the board that they must prioritise either Saturday’s trip to Burnley in the League or next Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg at RB Leipzig.
