The Guardian reports that the manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Antonio Conte, will not be "allowed to communicate with players or staff" during the upcoming UEFA Champions League match against Olympique de Marseille, and must watch the match from the stands.

Conte has been suspended because he received a red card during the match with Sporting Lisbon (Sporting Clube de Portugal).

This intrigued me. One of Spurs' previous managers, José Mourinho, once famously hid in a laundry basket to skirt a similar ban (while managing Chelsea Football Club, in a Champions League match against FC Bayern München: https://lnkd.in/gDv62gAK). Given Conte's importance to the team, I wondered if there was any way around the suspension.

So I went to look up the rules. A common occupational hazard for lawyers.

Article 52 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2021-2024 Cycle, 2022/2023 Season, provides that "a team official sent off from the field of play and/or its immediate surrounds, including the technical area, is automatically suspended for the next match in a UEFA club competition": https://lnkd.in/grugbCcG.

Ok, but what exactly does suspension mean?

Article 69 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, Edition 2022, provides that "[a] team manager/coach or other team official who is... suspended from carrying out his function may not be in the technical area or communicate directly with the team's players and/or technical staff during the match... [and] may not enter the dressing room or tunnel before or during the match": https://lnkd.in/gmry7jnw.

Ok, that seems to cover-

Wait a minute.

Conte may not communicate "directly" with the players or technical staff?

"Directly"?

Hmm.

Hmmmmmmmm.

Wouldn't this mean that he could, while watching the match, send text or voice messages to an intermediary, who could then relay the messages to an assistant manager for his instructions to be implemented?

He could even record his half-time team talk in segments and send them to the intermediary on a rolling basis, who could then forward the recordings to be played in the dressing room.

And he could do so openly from the stands, with no need to hide his actions.

As for finding an intermediary, well, it simply needs to be someone who is not an employee of the club, and who supports Spurs. I think there will be no shortage of volunteers (Chi Tern Hoon, Samuel Lim, Adrian Loh, Adrian Tan?)

So if Spurs draws or wins against Marseille next week, and Conte is seen barking furiously into his phone throughout the match:

- Spurs fans, you're welcome, and if you want to buy me a pint, I will not decline; and
- Marseille fans, better luck next year.