Tottenham star Eric Dier climbs into stands to confront racist fan after defeat

Tottenham defender Eric Dier jumped into the stands and clashed with one of his home side fans after his team’s FA Cup defeat by Norwich on Wednesday.

Viral video footage showed Dier climbing over seats to confront a home fan before he was restrained by security guards and other fans.

In the footage, Dier can be seen being led away following the confrontation.

Tottenham scored a penalty in the shootout against Norwich, but Spurs failed to qualify to the next round of the FA Cup after a failed spot-kick from Gedson Fernandes.

Following the defeat, Dier’s angry reaction to the fans who had hurled seats at the stadium to confront one of his home fans as he was filmed shouting “he is my brother!”

The reason was reportedly that one Tottenham fan hurled racial abuse towards Dier’s Portugese team-mate Gedson Fernandes who they blamed for the defeat after missing a penalty shot, but some English sources say the reason for clash was indeed that a fan in question had a disagreement with his own brother in the stands.

The 26-year-old England player is now reportedly facing a ban after they were stadium security intervened to break up the physical altercation.

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said “Eric Dier did something that we professionals cannot do but probably every one of us would do.”

“When someone insults you and your family is there, and your family gets involved with the person that is insulting you, in this case your younger brother, I am with the player and understand the player,” he added.

It remains unclear what really caused the incident, however, a video of the confrontation went viral on social media nonetheless.

It is not the first time a player has clashed with a fan this season. Arsenal's Granit Xhaka was stripped of the club captaincy after mouthing an expletive to home fans when substituted in a match against Crystal Palace.