James Maddison could find himself in hot water after publicly criticising the officials for denying Tottenham a penalty in the dying stages of the club’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United.
Tottenham were unable to take advantage of West Ham’s slip-up by beating Leeds, which means that the threat of relegation very much remains alive heading into the final two games of the season.
The Lilywhites will look back on the game against Daniel Farke’s side as a missed chance, not only because they had chances to win it, but also because of a controversial decision that went against them late on.
Substitute Maddison, who had come on in the 85th minute for his first competitive appearance for Spurs in a year, went down in the box under a challenge from Lukas Nmecha, with replays not conclusively showing whether the Leeds star got a touch on the ball.
Tottenham star James Maddison may have breached FA’s rules
Taking to social media, the 29-year-old suggested that the officials were petrified to make a decision on the pitch due to VAR, insisting that the small touch on the ball came from the outside of his own boot rather than from Nmecha.
CaughtOffside have now claimed that the wording of Maddison’s post is unlikely to go down well with the Football Association.
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The FA’s rules regarding comments from players and staff regarding match officials are strict, particularly when it comes to the implication of bias or attack against the integrity of the officials.
Maddison’s use of the word ‘petrified’ could land him in hot water with English football’s governing body.
Should VAR have taken more time on the penalty decision?
Maddison is not the kind of character to state on social media that he was the one who got the touch on the ball if it is not true.
The replays shown during the broadcast were inconclusive, and it is unclear if VAR would have had access to some other angles.
There is certainly a case to be made that they could have taken more time on the incident, but perhaps they were under pressure to speed things up after receiving flak for taking so long on the controversial disallowed West Ham equaliser.