FA should look at Defoe bite - Caborn

12 April 2012

Sports minister Richard Caborn has urged the Football Association to look at the video evidence of Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe's bite on West Ham midfielder Javier Mascherano.

The England forward appeared to bite the arm of the Argentinian after being fouled in Sunday's match, with Steve Bennett booking both players once a melee that ensued following Defoe's retaliation to the challenge had been calmed.

Caborn told The Times: "Any action like this I hope the authorities will decide on. I have said time and again that players in these positions have a great responsibility to set a good example."

Despite Caborn's calls the FA may be bound by their rules in looking again at the incident. The fact that Defoe was booked suggests they will be unable to issue further punishment, though the recent forearm smash by Manchester City defender Ben Thatcher on Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes was treated as an exceptional case.

Spurs boss Martin Jol insists Mascherano will bear no scars after describing Defoe's bite as a "comical nibble".

Jol played down suggestions that England striker Defoe had bitten Mascherano after a first-half goal from Mido left West Ham in a deepening crisis at the foot of the Barclays Premiership table.

Jol said: "He was nibbling his arm - there will be no mark. Ask Mascherano if he has got a mark.

"It is part of the game. They kicked him three times from behind in 10 minutes and he wanted to show his frustration in a nice, comical way."

West Ham boss Alan Pardew claimed he had not seen Defoe bite Mascherano but admitted that the former West Ham player was lucky to have remained on the pitch if that was the case.

Pardew said: "Mascherano brought him down from behind and that was definitely a booking. I didn't quite see the reaction from Jermain but it looked like he gestured towards Mascherano but whether there was any contact I don't know. In today's game he could have gone. If he was sent off there, it would have changed the game."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in