FA to investigate pitch invasions
The Football Association has confirmed it will investigate incidents at the end of Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final win at Tottenham when two fans ran onto the pitch, one of whom threw a punch at England midfielder Frank Lampard.
Spurs officials will be contacted by the FA today after the supporters ran on to the pitch after the final whistle of the replay at White Hart Lane following the visitors’ 2-1 victory.
An FA spokesman said: “These scenes were totally unacceptable and we will be contacting Spurs as a matter of priority.
“We want to establish what safety and security provisions were in place for the game and to confirm what action was taken against the fans who ran onto the pitch.
“We understand that both individuals were arrested and we would expect them to be given football banning orders.”
Chelsea's win, courtesy of stunning goals by Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips, sets up a semi-final with Blackburn but the result was overshadowed by the ugly scenes afterwards.
“I saw the guy coming and wanted to keep my eye on him because if I turn my back, I thought I might get one on me,” Lampard said.
“I just ducked and the stewards got to him. The way he ran at me I think he’d had a few drinks. I don’t think he should have been on the pitch in the first place, but you can understand there’s a lot of emotion in a match like this.”
