Villas-Boas slams FA's 'disgraceful' decision not to ban Torres over 'scratching' incident

Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas has slammed the English Football Association's (FA) decision not to ban Chelsea striker Fernando Torres for four games for scratching his club's defender Jan Vertonghen's face, calling it a 'disgrace'.

The FA reportedly cannot take action against the Spaniard as one of the match officials said he saw the incident between Torres and Vertonghen, although 'not in its entirety'.

According to the BBC, Villas-Boas has slammed the decision as a 'disgrace', saying that FA's lack of action is 'almost farcical', although he added that his complaint was with the FA rather than his former colleagues at Chelsea.

Expressing his incredulity at FA's inability to take action against Torres, Villas-Boas also said that he is not concerned with which player or club is involved, he is just disappointed that the FA failed to punish Torres for 'overtaking all professional behaviour' despite viewing the 'pretty clear' images of the incident.

However, Villas-Boas added that he does not want to question Torres' integrity or Chelsea's new manager Jose Mourinho's in trying to defend Tottenham's position.

Villas-Boas worked as a scout for Mourinho before embarking on his own managerial career which included an eight-month spell in charge of Chelsea during the 2011-12 season, the report added.