Villas-Boas calls Torres decision `a disgrace`

The FA`s decision not to take action against Chelsea`s Fernando Torres for scratching Jan Vertonghen`s face was "a disgrace" and "farcical", Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said on Wednesday.

Television replays showed the Spaniard digging his fingers into Vertonghen`s face after the two came together following Torres`s trip on the Belgian which earned him a yellow card during Saturday`s draw at White Hart Lane. "It`s extremely difficult to know where to start," Villas-Boas said ahead of his side`s Europa League clash with Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in Moscow. "Obviously, it is almost a farcical decision. It doesn`t matter to me which player or club is involved." Torres was later sent off for a second yellow card following another clash with the defender and the FA said on Tuesday that as a match official saw the first "coming together of the two players, albeit not in its entirety", it could not take retrospective action. The striker would have faced a further three-game suspension if the FA had decided to charge Torres with violent conduct. "Neither do I want to with my words put into question Fernando`s integrity; neither their manager`s, in trying to defend what is our position," added Villas-Boas. "I think the FA has made a decision almost a joke. It looks incredible. How can you see the images, pretty clear, and come out without punishment on something which overtakes all professional behaviour? "I think the decision is a disgrace. If the committee can`t solve such clear images I don`t think it sets out a good first example. "I think the FA has lost all opportunity to put some sense into the images everybody saw." Torres was given a one-match ban for the sending-off but would probably have missed Chelsea`s game at Norwich City on Sunday anyway after picking up a knee injury in the Champion`s League win over Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday. Reuters