Rehanne Skinner claims Summanen's ban highlights 'massive inconsistencies'

Tottenham women manager Rehanne Skinner believes Eveliina Summanen's two-match ban for 'successful deception of a match official' has highlighted 'massive inconsistencies' between the men and women's games.

Summanen received the improper conduct charge from the Football Association after she allegedly committed a 'clear act of simulation', which resulted in Manchester United's Ella Toone being sent off on February 12.

The incident occurred in the 80th minute when Toone pushed Summanen in the shoulder in reaction to a previous challenge, leading referee Amy Fearn to brandish a red card.

But Summanen, who held her face following the contact from Toone, was accused of 'play-acting' by United boss Marc Skinner.

The Tottenham midfielder denied the charge of improper conduct but an Independent Regulatory Commission upheld the decision.

Summanen is believed to be the first female player to be charged with successful deception of a match official. The last male player to be charged was Leeds striker Patrick Bamford in 2019.

Spurs boss Skinner believes rescinding Toone's red card and hitting Summanen with a two-game ban has 'opened up a can of worms' and questioned the example being set for youngsters in the game.

'The red card removal is one that's potentially challenging. Initially, a player has made a foul. Then players are on the floor. Whenever you're raising your hands in that situation, going after a player aggressively, if we're not interpreting the rule of violent conduct in the right way, then that's a bigger problem that we need to look into.

'It's essentially if you're using or attempting to use force against an opponent when you're not challenging for the ball – that's the rule. That's happened and was evident so I think the challenge we have is what precedent are we trying to set? And what does that look like moving forward for us all? If you see that on the street it's not OK.

'We need to have an understanding of the written reasons that were attached to that. I think you move it on to the next part of that. If you're on the floor and someone comes at you with their hands out, you've only really got two choices. One is to retaliate and the other is to protect yourself. It's difficult to manage in that situation. If you're the person on the receiving end of it it's difficult to be faced with that circumstance and being accused of things.

'There's a whole host of reasons. A player that needs treatment following that also needs to be considered. I just think it's opened a can of worms, I'm not sure what we're advocating, I'm slightly concerned for the example we're trying to set for the wider game and also for kids watching that.

'At the moment, the Premier League, the EFL and the WSL all goes by the same rules and this massively highlights the inconsistencies around how things are dealt with. That's something that definitely needs to be addressed moving forward if we're actually trying to grow the game in the right direction.'

Asked whether she thought Summanen had been made an example of, Skinner added: 'I think that's probably fair to say.

'Myself and the club don't agree with the charge that's been made against Eveliina. It's fair to say we were shocked, disappointed and I was unimpressed with the way this whole process has happened.'

United boss Skinner had made strong comments on the incident after the game, which the Tottenham manager did not believe was necessary.

'I think it's really important to focus on your own team and players. For me, commenting on other people's players is definitely beneath the standards and values that I have and that I'm prepared to go to.

'Ultimately there's enough going on within a game for players to manage and cope with that I don't think we need to contribute to the pressures that are obviously going on in their lives while they are trying to compete. That's disappointing that that's happened.'