Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a massive blow after their star midfielder Dele Alli was charged by the Football Association (FA) with the an act of violent conduct for punching West Bromwich Albion midfielder Claudio Yacob in his side's 1-1 draw in the Premier League clash on Monday.
The incident took place in the 26th minute of the match when the 20-year-old was found punching Yacob and that was not picked up the referee. The video footage showed the match official missed the incident and thus was referred to an the FA's panel.
The panel includes three former referees and they have unanimously charged him for his behaviour. He has time till Wednesday 6pm BST to respond to the charges.
"Dele Alli has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video," a statement read on the FA's official website.
"The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was involved in an incident with West Bromwich Albion's Claudio Yacob in the 26th minute of the game last night (Monday 25 April 2016). He has until 6pm on Wednesday 27 April to reply.
"Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees.
"Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence. For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision of the panel must be unanimous."
Alli was awarded as the PFA Young Player of the Year Award after he impressed in his first full season with the north London club. So far, he has scored 10 goals and managed nine assists in 33 league appearances. His absence will be a big blow for Tottenham, who are chasing for the title this season.
Following the 1-1 draw to West Brom, Mauricio Pochettino's side now are seven points behind league leaders Leicester City. One more win for the Foxes or a defeat for Tottenham will see the former win the Premier League title in the 2015/16 season.
