Spurs to contact FA over Keane ban

Tottenham will write to the Football Association to explain their anger at the disciplinary procedures following Robbie Keane’s dismissal at the weekend.

Keane was given a straight red card by Phil Dowd for a tackle on Birmingham’s Fabrice Muamba, a decision pundits deemed to be extremely harsh particularly as Bolton’s El-Hadji Diouf appeared lucky to stay on the pitch at Anfield after a lunge on Alvaro Arbeloa.

Spurs officials were furious that Keane was not given the opportunity for a hearing.

“We shall be writing to the FA to express our concerns,” said club secretary John Alexander. Keane’s dismissal was upheld following appeal and he will miss three domestic games.

Alexander added on the club’s official website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com: “The justification for upholding the referee’s decision makes no sense to us, and if Robbie had been given an opportunity to attend – the current rules do not give him any opportunity to attend at the hearing of his appeal – we believe that the verdict would have been different.

“It is frustrating for Robbie that he is now forced to miss three games whilst players who committed similar, or in many cases, worse, tackles at the weekend are free to play.”