Tom Huddlestone escapes UEFA punishment
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tom Huddlestone has escaped punishment from UEFA during Spurs Champions League match with FC Twente last week.
Marc Janko, the FC Twente centre forward claimed that Huddlestone deliberately "smashed his arm into my face".
UEFA reviewed the video evidence and found that Huddlestone did not have a case to answer despite Janko receiving a bloody nose in the incident.
If UEFA had judged that Huddlestone had deliberately elbowed the Austrian forward he would have faced a minimum two match ban ruling him out of the Champions League home and away game with Inter Milan.
Rafael van der Vaart has already been suspended for the match at the San Siro after he picked up a red card against FC Twente. Spurs went on to win the match 4-1.
Janko is adamant that Huddlestone’s elbow was carried out on purpose and said: "If you look at the TV pictures, you will see he clearly hit me on purpose. He smashed his arm into my face."
The Tottenham midfielder will now be able to feature in both Inter Milan games. The first will take place in Milan on 20 October and the return match will be played at White Hart Lane two weeks later.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp admitted that Huddlestone did connect with the FC Twente forward and said, “It's not like Tom – he's not at all an aggressive player, he's a fantastic footballer and a great guy.”
"It looked like he caught him with an elbow. Whether he meant to do it, I'm not so sure,” he added.
UEFA revealed that they had also taken into consideration Huddlestone’s previous disciplinary record.
The Tottenham midfielder is now expected to face Inter Milan as part of a five man midfield.
Redknapp will be delighted at the outcome as Huddlestone has become a key first team player for his side.
Tags: