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England midfielder Eric Dier was involved in a confrontation in the stands after Spurs exited the FA Cup at home to Norwich after being “insulted” by a fan, said manager Jose Mourinho.
Dier climbed into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s bottom tier and was involved in a fracas before security intervened.
Mourinho said Dier’s younger brother was “not happy” about the insult.
The Portuguese added: “I think Eric did what we professionals cannot do but probably every one of us would do.”
Dier, who has 40 England caps, scored in the penalty shootout loss to Norwich, but Tim Krul saved two efforts to put the Canaries into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Mourinho said: “I repeat we professionals cannot do it, but I repeat I am with the player and I understand the player. The fans were with the team until the last penalty kick that we missed.
“This person insulted Eric, the family was there, the younger brother was not happy with the situation.”
On the prospect of the club taking action against Dier, Mourinho said: “If the club does that I will not agree, but he did wrong.”
The incident happened in the area behind the dugouts, which is a corporate section, and Mourinho criticised it for not housing “real Tottenham fans”.
He added: “The people that are in these privileged positions by the tunnel, of course some are Tottenham fans.
“But I think a lot of corporate, a lot of invitation, a lot of people with special status [are in there] and probably it is the place of the stadium where I sometimes have doubts over if they are the real Tottenham fans, because these [real fans] are the ones who support the boys until the last.”
