The English Football Association has imposed a two-match ban on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp due to comments he made about referee Paul Tierney after his team’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham in April.
As a result, Klopp will not be available for the upcoming match against Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday.
They will hold the suspension for the second game in abeyance until the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, ensuring that Klopp does not miss the final game of this season against Southampton.
Klopp implied that Tierney held a bias against Liverpool following the match against Spurs.
Furthermore, the FA fined him £75,000 as he admitted to improper conduct and expressed regret for his remarks.
Yellow Card
The referee showed Klopp a yellow card for celebrating Liverpool’s 94th-minute winner in front of the fourth official, and Klopp later claimed that what Tierney said to him was “not OK.”
The refereeing governing body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited, said at the time it “strongly refutes” any accusation Tierney’s actions were “improper”.
Three days after the match, Liverpool sent a letter in response to the charges, acknowledging the heightened emotions during the tense fixture. In the letter, they clarified that Klopp did not intend to “question Tierney’s integrity” but emphasized that the referee had been involved in a number of “questionable decisions” concerning the club.
However, the FA stated that the comments represented a “particularly serious example of misconduct” and expressed their concern regarding the very aggressive nature of Klopp’s behavior towards fourth official John Brooks.
Klopp also wrote a letter of apology, saying the words he used in the post-match interview were “inappropriate” and “driven by emotion”.
The FA has also released the transcript of what Tierney said to Klopp when he booked him, which the Liverpool boss deemed to be “unacceptable”.
After Brooks informed Tierney about Klopp’s behavior and after Tierney sought confirmation from the video assistant referee (VAR), Tierney said, “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow.”
