Jurgen Klopp is likely to receive a lengthy touchline ban from the FA, with audio from his confrontation with Paul Tierney said to be a ‘smoking gun’ that will undermine his argument.
Klopp made headlines after Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Tottenham on Sunday by celebrating Diogo Jota’s 94th-minute winner by sprinting down the touchline to celebrate in the face of fourth official John Brooks. He then made allegations against Tierney in his post-match interview.
The Liverpool manager suggested that Tierney had a grudge against him and his side, while also hinting that the referee had said something inappropriate when giving him a yellow card in the second half. Klopp’s behaviour has been slammed by pundits, while refereeing body the PGMOL took the unusual step of releasing a statement to “strongly refute” his allegations.
Klopp now looks set to be reprimanded for his actions, with the FA investigating his behaviour. The PGMOL have listened to the audio of his confrontation with Tierney and concluded the referee had “acted in a professional manner throughout”.
That audio will now be sent to the FA and a source told the Daily Mail it amounts to a ‘smoking gun’. The audio will become public at the end of the FA’s disciplinary process as part of the written reasons for their punishment.
Klopp has already received a touchline ban this season and the FA is therefore likely to throw the book at him to try and send a message that abusing officials won’t be accepted.
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The 55-year-old German was banned for one game and fined £30,000 in November after screaming in the face of the assistant referee while protesting against the decision not to award Liverpool a free-kick in a match against Manchester City.
The regulatory commission which looked into that incident stated it “considered previous disciplinary record to be an aggravating factor”. He is now therefore likely to be punished even more severely, with a multiple-game touchline ban and a heavier fine expected, although The Times reports that the five-game ban Sir Alex Ferguson received in 2011 will remain a high-water mark.
While the FA will take a dim view of Klopp’s celebration in front of fourth official Brooks – for which he did later apologise – it is his comments about Tierney which are considered to be more serious.
“We have our story, our history with Mr Tierney,” Klopp told Sky Sports. "I really don’t know what this man has with us. I really don’t know. He will always say there’s nothing – and it’s not true, it cannot be. I have to say. It cannot be, I don’t understand it. I’m really not sure if it’s me because he looks at me… I don’t understand it.”
FA rules state that comments that “imply bias and/or attack the integrity of the referee” are a breach of the governing body’s rule E3. "It is high time the authorities brought Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to book over his unacceptable touchline antics," former Premier League referee Keith Hackett told The Telegraph. "He is becoming a serial offender."
