Referee Abuse - Charity Calls For Inquiry

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp charged by FA after red card against Man City.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been charged by the Football Association following his sending-off during his side's 1-0 win against Manchester City.

Klopp was dismissed after berating a referee's assistant when a foul was not given for a challenge on Mohamed Salah.

The incident came on a weekend where Merseyside Youth League games were postponed amid ongoing issues with referee abuse.

Klopp apologised for his reaction in his post-match comments.

"Something snapped in that situation, I'm not proud of that. I deserved a red card, and the way I looked in this moment is not right," the German admitted.

Klopp has been charged with a breach of FA rule E3, which covers "comments which are improper, which bring the game into disrepute, which are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting".

The 55-year-old has until Friday to respond to the charge and will be allowed to take his place in the dugout for Liverpool's home game against West Ham on Wednesday.

Following the win over City, Klopp said he went to see to referee Anthony Taylor and "spoke completely calmly" about how he felt the match unfolded.

He added: "The whole game led to that a little bit. It was a very, very intense game with a lot of decisions we didn't understand on both sides.

"This for me was like the one drop that made the bucket overflow. I'm not happy with my reaction but that's the way it was and everybody saw it."

Update: Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool boss fined £30,000 by FA for red card against Manchester City..

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been fined £30,000 by the Football Association following his sending off during his side's 1-0 win against Manchester City on 16 October.

Klopp was dismissed after berating a referee's assistant when a foul was not given for a challenge on Mohamed Salah.

The German apologised for his reaction in his post-match comments.

"Something snapped in that situation, I'm not proud of that. I deserved a red card," he admitted.

Klopp had been charged with a breach of FA rule E3, which covers "comments which are improper, which bring the game into disrepute, which are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting".

The FA said he accepted that his behaviour "was improper", and "an independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanction during a hearing".

Liverpool can appeal against the sanction.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-66745500..the FA are failing these young referee's , being scared off before they get going.... they should have made a point "AGAIN" about these types of assaults on any ref..... this was UNDER 7'S FFS!!!

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Get Involved - Your views on referee abuse

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Paul, Cottingham: The problem across football is that the authorities at the very highest level are not clamping down on dissent enough. On a weekly basis we still see both teams surrounding the referee. I am absolutely all for cameras on referees at grassroots level, if it prevents officials being abused. But the absolute first place this should have been implemented is at the top, in the Premier League. Everyone will see that it is unacceptable at the highest level, and this would filter down. And one more thing; the dissection of referee performances with things like 'Referee Watch' has to stop - there is no need for it, it is causing more issues for the referees, and ironically it is led by ex-referees who should know better.

Anon: As someone who referees just below the national league it's incredibly worrying to see this and think we're probably only a bit behind. For years the media, managers and clubs in Turkey have used referees as a scapegoat for poor performances by teams. What are we seeing now in the upper echelons of the Premier League? Arteta, De Zerbi and more... Equally concerning is the attitude of fans in the age of social media, seen so many replies of "I'd love to do that to X referee" and it's just disgusting. The game from top to bottom has lost all sense of morals

Mark, Hampton Wick: The referee is policing the game. If he is physically assaulted, the penalty should be taken as seriously as assaulting a police officer, relatively speaking of course. Physically, they should be untouchable. And for goodness sake, how long before only captains can talk to the referee?

Iain, Nottingham: Can't help but look at rugby as one example of helping refs. Yes, there needs to be a culture shift away from harassment and strict punishments for those who transgress, but I think miking up the ref so people (fans and managers) can hear and understand their thought processes is enormously helpful.

Michael, Lincolnshire: I only reffed in primary school and u10 games but even then, there is a lack of respect, often compounded by adults watching. I asked one team to remove a child who continually questioned my decisions vociferously. After I was confronted by his parent, pinned against a wall, fortunately his teacher rescued me. It's sad but unsurprising to see the incident in Turkey. Strong measures at all levels need to be taken.

Andy, West Linton: The tension with referees has been ignored for decades. The sport loves the quaint idea of the human referee. But there is far too much money involved in the sport now and too much at stake. It's crunch time - should referees still be put in that position with so much responsibility?

John: And that's what nearly happened to me (fortunately, I spotted the punch, just in time to move my head away) in the car park after a 3-3 draw in a lower league game. No apology from individual or team afterwards. Nobody from either team prepared to be a witness. No back up from local FA. I stopped refereeing that day.

Phill: There needs to be a collective responsibility here. This isn't an isolated incident that has come from nowhere. It's come from the ridiculous scrutiny all players, managers and the media are putting on referees. If we want more respect for refs, it has to come with a massive reset that begins with accepting that referees, just like players and managers, are humans who make mistakes.

James, Birmingham: The absolute maximum punishments need to be handed down to those that physically attack referees - I'm talking lifetime bans from being involved with the sport, criminal charges and eye-watering fines for the clubs (to be invested in grassroots refereeing or similar).

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Get Involved - More of your views on referee abuse..

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Nick, Kent: How many times must people point toward Rugby Union for answers on officials? Technology properly used, communication clear, very little discrepancy and the referees treated as though they are at the very least not second or third class citizens beneath players, managers and now owners apparently.

Richard, Norwich: It's incredibly sad to say, but the physical assaults on referees was coming. Abuse of officials is just part of the game for some - and I stress some - Premier League managers and players, but they won't take any responsibility because when their teams lose, it's always someone else's fault. And this season, it feels like all pundits are being asked to pile into officials and VAR, to the point where it's become embarrassing. When someone like [Alan] Shearer calls a referee a disgrace then fans will see abuse as fair game... and look where it leads.

Eddie: It's sad to say but it's taken something like this to happen to a referee for the world to realise how bad it is. I agree the standards have dropped but the managers of clubs publicly moan about them and this has been building. It's frustrating on managers when things don't go in their favour but maybe, in press conferences concentrate on your team's performance. All managers should look at themselves as problem and part to blame for these events.

Phil, Worthing: Just a thought… Perhaps, it would be better not to ask managers for their opinions directly after a match? In the heat of the moment emotions can cloud judgement. Would it not be better to get managers opinions on previous games when doing pre-match interviews to give them a chance to properly pick their words (if feeling hard done by)? At least that way any anger, legitimate or not, would be taken out of the equation.

Ben: If I was a referee in the Premier League or Uefa, I would refuse to officiate until changes are brought in immediately. I would ask all the other referees to do the same. It needs a united front and strike from all referees to bring change about. It'd be funny to see how quickly everyone's tune would change when you take away the millions in match sponsorship and tv deals.

Joey: My Dad has been a football referee for 20-ish years and the abuse he would be subject to was disgusting. There’s never been any remorse or respect from players, nor will there ever be as long as there is no discipline in place for the players. It’s been the case for years in every league across the globe from professional leagues to grassroots, and it shouldn’t have gotten to a point where a referee is being punched to realise there is a lack of respect to the officials. I echo others who have said about introducing bans for players. Fines don’t cut it.

Ed: The assault of a referee in a Turkey is utterly disgraceful. Refereeing is an enormously challenging job, and the pressure they're under has to be respected. But two things can be true at the same time, and it is also clear that refereeing in the Premier League is not up to standard. So implicating exasperated top-flight English managers in the thuggish actions of a Turkish club's president is deeply unhelpful, and will not support the changes need to be made to ensure the standard of officiating keeps up with the pace of the modern elite game.

Stephen, Colchester: I think what a lot of people seem to overlook was it wasn’t some mindless thug from the crowd who whacked the ref - which could be seen as par for the course in today’s toxic environment - but THE PRESIDENT of one of the clubs. A rare example to set before players and fans alike. If he and his club only get a ‘slap on the wrist,’ you can throw the rule book away.

Damon: When players surround referees, they should red card the manager and send them to the stands. Until managers enforce responsibility onto the players, nothing will change. Maybe if managers end up in the stands every week, they’ll see the severity. Also the £75,000 fine for failure to control players is a complete joke and undermines that anybody takes this seriously.

Matt, London: I don't think refereeing standards have decreased in recent years, but the focus on referees certainly has. The insatiable need to grab column inches, hits on websites or views on social media mean people MUST have a view on the referees. The number of times I've seen managers pushed for a view on a decision when they won't want to talk about it is crazy. VAR only makes it more polarising, people expecting perfection in an imperfect game.