Chelsea striker Fernando Torres will reportedly face no further punishment for scratching the face of Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen in their Premier League 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Although the English Football Association (FA) reviewed the incident, which was caught on TV, a match official had already seen the players collide which means, under FA rules, no retrospective action can be taken.
According to the BBC, the Spaniard, who will serve a one-match ban after being sent off in the 82nd minute for two bookable offences, had faced the prospect of his one-match ban being extended to four if he was found guilty of violent conduct.
The report mentioned that although action was only taken if a referee viewed the footage and judged whether a player should have been sent off under the old FA disciplinary system, the new system, which is undergoing a trial, sees a panel of three former referees reviewing an incident and deciding whether charges should be made.
However, the report also said that the FA cannot take further action if a match official witnesses part of the incident, under both the old and the new systems.
