Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has, predictably, been charged by the Football Association for “calling into question the integrity of the match referee” Lee Mason after the Reds’ 2-1 defeat at Manchester City last month.
Rodgers was upset at a number of decisions made and missed by the officials in the loss at the Etihad Stadium and questioned why a referee from Greater Manchester had been appointed for a match involving a Manchester side.
Mason resides from Bolton, Greater Manchester, and in his post-match interview with BT Sport, Rodgers described Mason and his team of officials’ performance as “horrendous”.
After an initial delay due to bank holidays over New Year, the FA released this statement on Friday evening:
It is alleged the comments by Rodgers called into question the integrity of the match referee, and/or implied that the match referee was motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute; and/or amounted to a failure to act in the best interests of the game.
The Northern Irishman has until 6pm on Wednesday, 8 January 2014 to respond to the charge.
Considering The FA have a 99.4% conviction rate, any appeal from Rodgers is extremely unlikely to be successful.
It is likely Rodgers will face a charge of around £8,000—the same that West Ham boss Sam Allardyce faced when he criticised referee Phil Dowd for his performance duirng the Hammers’ FA Cup exit to Manchester United last season.
Does Rodgers deserve to be fined by the Football Association for his comments after the Man City game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, or on Twitter @thisisanfield.
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