Cristian Romero has been hit with a one-match ban following an incident with the referee towards the end of Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last month. Upon receiving a second yellow card in stoppage time, the Lilywhites captain was adjudged to have 'acted improperly' towards John Brooks.
He served a one-match suspension, as a result of the dismissal, at the end of December, missing Spurs' 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Romero has now been punished for his behaviour towards the referee, ruling him out of Saturday afternoon's clash against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.
An official statement from a spokesperson at the FA reads: "Cristian Romero has been sanctioned in relation to the Premier League fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool on Saturday 20 December 2025.
"It was alleged that he acted improperly around the 93rd minute by failing to leave the field of play promptly and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the referee.
"The defender subsequently admitted the charge, and an independent Regulatory Commission has now imposed a one-match suspension and £50,000 fine after a hearing. The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these sanctions will be published in due course."
Earlier this week, Romero raised eyebrows when he appeared to take a dig at Tottenham officials. The Argentina international apologised to supporters on Instagram following a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.
Romero wrote: "Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be. We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that.
"I am the first but we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club. At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t — as has been happening for several years now.
"They only show up when things are going well. We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football.
"All together, it will be easier @spursofficial [white heart emoji]."
Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of this weekend's clash against Aston Villa, Frank offered his thoughts on the cryptic post. The Dane said: "I think after Cuti became the captain, he's done a lot of good things right.
"I said it when I named him the captain that even though he's an experienced player, he's tried a lot, he's still a young leader. And I think a lot of the things he's done well on and off the pitch, I'm happy with."
Frank added: "But also when you're a young leader sometimes you make a mistake, of course it's good to keep it internally. Johan and I had a good conversation with him this morning about everything, which we of course keep internally."
On his relationship with Romero, the Tottenham boss said: "I have a very good relationship with Cuti and he has done well, but long-term success, everyone is aligned. Me, players, captain, leadership, which we are."
And on whether he should be concerned that Romero isn't aligned with key figure at the club, Frank said: "I think as I say, that I can’t and you probably need to ask him.
"It is not that often he does do the press, so you need to wait until you speak to him, but what I know he is has been here for five years, that’s one thing and what I know is I look at where I have been here for seven months and I see a very aligned club, so it’s just up to us to prove that."