Mousa Dembele Reportedly Facing Potential 10-Game Ban for Alleged Eye Gouge

Tottenham Hotspur's Mousa Dembele could reportedly be handed a 10-game ban for his alleged eye gouge on Diego Costa during the north London side's Stamford Bridge clash against Chelsea on Monday. 

The Belgian midfielder was caught up in a first-half brawl during the bad-tempered 2-2 draw—which saw Leicester City crowned champions as Spurs failed to win—and he appeared to poke striker Costa in the left eye, per BBC Sport:

The Tottenham man has since been charged by the Football Association with violent conduct, per a statement on its website. It's also suggested "it is alleged the player’s behaviour constituted violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment of three matches that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient."

According to the Sun's Andrew Dillon, the incident is being treated as an "extraordinary event" by the FA and put "in the same bracket as Luis Suarez's infamous bite on Blues ace Branislav Ivanovic" and thus Dembele could face a lengthy suspension that would rule him out of the rest of this season and the start of next.

Dillon added that, with match referee Mark Clattenburg having missed the incident, the way has been left "clear for the FA to throw the book at [Dembele]."

A standard violent conduct charge would see the 28-year-old suspended for three matches, but it seems Dembele's alleged transgression is set to draw a more serious punishment.

The FA banned Luis Suarez, during his Liverpool days, for 10 matches back in 2013 when he sensationally sunk his teeth into the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a match at Anfield. 

Football writer Michael Cox advocated a lengthy ban for Dembele after the incident occurred at Stamford Bridge:

Spurs had already lost Dele Alli to a three-match suspension ahead of the vital Chelsea clash after he was retrospectively sanctioned for punching West Bromwich Albion's Claudio Yacob in the stomach, per Sky Sports' Brian Dodds.

Alli will be available again for the start of next season, but it looks as though Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino could have to cope without Dembele for the first eight games of the 2016-17 campaign as he looks to guide his side to the Premier League title.