Cristian Romero handed additional ban and slapped with £50,000 fine – three weeks after red card

Cristian Romero will not feature in Tottenham Hotspur’s FA Cup tie against Aston Villa after being handed a one-game ban.

The ban relates to his red card in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League in December.

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Romero received a second yellow card in stoppage time for a kick out at Ibrahima Konate.

As a result, he was banned for one game, but following an independent review, he has been handed an extra suspension.

This is due to his conduct towards the referee and not leaving the pitch promptly enough following the red card.

Romero was also hit with a £50,000 fine after he accepted the charge.

In a short statement, Spurs confirmed they would be without their captain for the third round tie against Villa – live on talkSPORT on Saturday.

They said: “Cristian Romero will be unavailable for Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie with Aston Villa.

“Our captain has been handed a one-match suspension by an Independent Regulatory Commission following a hearing concerning his FA charge on 24 December.

“He will now be sidelined as we kick-off our 2025/26 FA Cup campaign at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend (kick-off 5.45pm UK).”

It is a bad end to the week for Romero, who appeared to call out the Tottenham hierarchy in a now-deleted social media post following Spurs’ 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.

And with Tottenham looking for a positive boost, Romero’s ban is an unwanted sideshow.

Romero’s actions give Frank unwanted headache

Romero’s ill-discipline will now force Tottenham manager Thomas Frank to once again tinker with his backline ahead of the FA Cup clash.

The skipper’s absence is also the last thing Frank needs after a tumultuous week for himself.

Prior to the club’s 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth, Frank was pictured holding an Arsenal-branded cup, sparking outrage among supporters.

The night ended on a sour note when Micky van de Ven had an altercation with a travelling Spurs fan, with the incident captured and shared on social media.

And the following morning, Romero decided to air his thoughts publicly.

He said: “Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be.

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“We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. I am the first. But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club.

“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t – as has been happening for several years now.

“They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.

“We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football.

“All together, it will be easier @spursofficial.”

The post remains on his Instagram page, but the line ‘To tell a few lies’ has been deleted.

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In his pre-match press conference, Frank launched a defence of his captain before news of his ban came to light.

He said: “I think he has done a lot of things right. He has still a young leader and he has done a lot of things well on and off the pitch. I was very happy with his performance last night.

“He was true captain throughout the game and at half time. But when you’re a young leader sometimes you make mistakes. It is good to keep it internal. We had a good conversation this morning which we will keep internally.”