Former FIFA referee Keith Hackett has called for points deductions for two Premier League clubs in a shock move this week. Neither of the sides have yet played this weekend, with Aston Villa hosting Brentford in one of the earlier kick-off slots on Sunday afternoon and Tottenham welcoming Manchester City to north London later on.
But after the two clubs were each fined £125,000 for the mass confrontation that took place during their FA Cup game on January 10, Hackett - also a former PGMOL chief - has reopened old wounds by suggesting there should have been a harsher punishment. England's football governing body ruled that both Tottenham and Villa "failed to ensure their players and/or officials did not act in an improper and/or provocative manner" after the full-time whistle had blown.
Aston Villa beat Tottenham 2-1, and the incident began when Joao Palhinha didn’t take too kindly to Ollie Watkins’ celebrations in front of the travelling Villa fans. Some pushing and shoving from Palhinha towards Watkins followed, which was spotted by several Villa players, who then moved to confront the Tottenham midfielder - notably Morgan Rogers.
Retired Ref: Tottenham & Aston Villa Should Be Docked Points
Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, former PGMOL chief Hackett believes that much harsher punishments should’ve been enacted, with a points deduction recommended. He said (watch the incident below):
“The fines hopefully sends a message to both clubs. However, a bigger message would be to start deducting points."
Indeed, the biggest issue with the 81-year-old's suggestion is that it would surely be too harsh to punish an incident that took place in the FA Cup by then taking points off them in a separate competition, which would be double jeopardy for Tottenham especially.
Does Hackett Have a Fair Point?
Generic EFL referee
While Hackett's thoughts on the situation may seem a little over the top, he does raise a valid indirect point: a fine of £125,000 will do very little to clubs of this stature in terms of properly addressing the issue or ensuring similar ugly scenes don’t happen again.
To put it into context, Premier League clubs operate with annual revenues in the tens - and often hundreds - of millions of pounds. Matchday income, broadcast distributions and commercial deals dwarf six-figure punishments, meaning a £125,000 fine can feel more like a token gesture than a meaningful deterrent.
If fines were increased from six figures to seven for incidents such as this, clubs might take a more serious and proactive approach to preventing them. Harsher financial consequences would likely encourage stronger internal discipline, clearer behavioural standards and quicker intervention from staff to stop flashpoints escalating. The fact a similar incident took place in Chelsea's 3-2 win over West Ham on Saturday evening is evidence that current punishments aren't enough.