LONDON - Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe on Monday played down his bite on West Ham United's Javier Mascherano as just a fun way of reacting to being fouled.
"This has been blown out of all proportion. When the West Ham player fouled me I reacted in a bit of
a mischievous way, my character is a little like that at times," Defoe said.
Defoe bit Mascherano's arm while both were on the ground after the Argentine had brought him down from behind during Spurs' 1-0 home win in the Premier League on Sunday.
"The referee was standing right over me and if he felt I had done anything bad he would have sent me off," Defoe, who was booked along with Mascherano, told Spurs' official website.
"The incident doesn't look great on TV and I accept that as a role model to kids I have a responsibility to conduct myself in the right way which I always try to do on and off the pitch," the England striker said in a statement.
There was a mass bout of shoving among the players after the incident and Britain's Sports Minister Richard Caborn urged the Football Association on Monday to look into it.
"Any action like this I hope the authorities will decide on. Players in these positions have a great responsibility to set a good example," Caborn told the Evening Standard newspaper.
The paper quoted an FA spokesman as saying that since the referee had booked Defoe they would only take further action if they regarded it as a very serious offence.
The incident occurred before halftime and shortly before Mido's winning goal and West Ham manager Alan Pardew said he had not seen Defoe bite his player but if he did he should have been sent off. Tottenham manager Martin Jol described Defoe's action as a "nibble".
West Ham fell to their seventh consecutive defeat and lie one from the bottom of the standings. They have not scored in those seven games.
- REUTERS
