Liverpool make their stance clear on FA approach to Anfield fracas during Arsenal draw

Liverpool will offer the FA and PGMOL full cooperation in the incident involving Andy Robertson and referee Constantine Hatzidakis

According to the Mirror, Liverpool will fully cooperate with the FA and referee body, PGMOL, in the incident involving Andy Roberton and referee Constantine Hatzidakis during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw versus Arsenal.

It was a shocking scene for everyone involved as Hatzidakis seemed to elbow Robertson after the player showed dissatisfaction with one of the decisions laid down by the official.

Henderson was surprised by what happened and his sentiment was shared by former Premier League Keith Hackett while speaking on 5 Live (h/t the Mirror) regarding the incident.

“I was trying to find an excuse as to why he did it and all I came up with was he in fear? He shouldn’t be because he’s in a protected environment with plenty of security. He reacted in a way that he shouldn’t. He’s clearly lost his composure.”

The FA has taken note of the note, has begun its internal investigation, and suspended the referee from officiating any games until the investigation is ongoing.

Incidents of clashes between the players and referee have been taken to a different level this season as seen recently with the incident involving Aleksandar Mitrovic and his subsequent eight-match ban for grabbing Chris Kavanagh.

Hence, it is a growing issue that needs to be dealt with urgently and Martin Cassidy who is the chief of Ref Support UK, an independent charity which represents the interests of the referees (h/t the Mirror) believes that the incident is part of a much wider worrying trend in football.

“The official appears to have been out of order.

And if it was intentional and it was aggressive then he needs to be banned like any other player – not for more, but the same [length of time]. The learnings here are: what was a player doing going over and manhandling a match official yet again?

Cassidy believes there need to be stricter rules that need to be laid down that maintain the distance between players and officials and should be followed religiously by both.

Citing a rule such as the enactment of a two-meter rule is one of the initiatives suggested by Cassidy and he fears that the entanglement of the players and referees have reached such an extent that there are clear objections from both sides now.

This will directly affect the game of football that we all adore and at the same time, has reasons for having a certain level of bias towards particular oppositions.

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Hence, it is imperative that the FA and PGMOL bring about some changes to the current set-up as it is just leading towards a wider issue of growing frustration between the players and officials.