Ange Postecoglou said Tottenham had suspended Yves Bissouma for Monday’s Premier League opening match against Leicester City after the midfielder posted footage of himself inhaling laughing gas on social media.
The Mali international apologised after clips emerged on Snapchat showing him taking the Class C drug – also known as laughing gas. Spurs released a statement saying the incident was being “treated as an internal matter”.
At a press conference on Thursday, Postecoglou said Bissouma had failed to live up to his responsibility as a role model and would have to rebuild the trust of his teammates as he had to sit out his club’s first game of the season.
“I’ve been in the business for a long time and every time situations like this arise – and they do happen – I’ve tried to look at it from different angles,” Postecoglou said.
“Firstly, there is a person involved: in this case it is Biss (Bissouma), and he made a really bad decision. You want to understand that and try to help him with that, and as a club we want to make sure that he does not make such decisions in the future.
“Sanctions are still involved in this context and some of those sanctions are designed to educate and make him understand how wrong he was. You always want to give people the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
“The second aspect is that he is a footballer of this club. He has responsibilities. He has responsibilities to the club, he has responsibilities to his teammates, he has responsibilities to the fans and everyone associated with the club and he has failed to fulfil these responsibilities. There must be sanctions for this.
“He will not be available on Monday. We have suspended him for the game on Monday. In addition, trust still needs to be built between Biss and me and Biss and the group.
“He’ll have to work hard from now on to get that back. It’s nothing to do with one game. He might get a one-game suspension, but he’ll have to earn it.”
“The door is open for him and hopefully we can help him realise that his decisions affect more than just himself and enable him to make better decisions in the future.”
Nitrous oxide was classified as a Class C drug under the UK government’s Misuse of Drugs Act last November. Possession of nitrous oxide not used for pain relief is now a criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison. However, it is currently unclear whether Bissouma will face criminal charges.
When asked how Bissouma plans to restore that trust, Postecoglou replied: “Through his behaviour, mate. It’s very simple. He makes better decisions and behaves better. He is obviously disappointed and has apologized profusely, not only to me but also to the club and everyone involved.”
“But that’s just the first part of the process, the next part now is behavior. Making sure he does the things he needs to do, as we all do. We all make mistakes. It’s about how you find your way out of those mistakes, and what you do is much more important than what you say.”
Postecoglou expects £65 million ($83.2 million) Dominic Solanke to be available against Leicester, while Richarlison has recovered from a calf injury but needs playing time “over the next few weeks”.
