Jürgen Klopp has received a two-match touchline ban plus a £75,000 fine for comments he made about the referee Paul Tierney after Liverpool’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Tottenham last month. The Liverpool manager admitted a Football Association charge of improper conduct for questioning the referee’s integrity.
The first match of the ban is effective immediately, meaning Klopp will be in the stands for Liverpool’s final home game of the season, against Aston Villa on Saturday, while the second is suspended until the end of the 2023-24 season on condition he does not repeat the breach. Klopp must also cover the costs of the independent regulatory commission that heard the case on top of his £75,000 fine.
Klopp celebrated Diogo Jota’s injury-time winner by running up to the fourth official, John Brooks. The 55-year-old’s behaviour then earned him a yellow card but did not give rise to the charge although his poor disciplinary record was taken into consideration for the sanction. Klopp – who has appeared before commissions three times in the past five years and was banned and warned about his behaviour as recently as November – has been told any further breaches will result in more disciplinary action.
The Liverpool manager accused Tierney of being biased against the club, and/or himself, in an immediate post-match interview with Sky Sports. He said: “We have our story, history with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us, I really don’t know … always will say there is nothing, and it’s not true. Cannot be. I have to say it cannot be. I don’t understand it. I am really not sure if it’s me because how he looks at me, I don’t understand it.”
Klopp had also claimed that what Tierney said to him when showing the yellow card for racing up to Brooks “was not OK”. The commission revealed a transcript of the exchange that led to Klopp’s booking.
Brooks: Jürgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum.
VAR: Confirming yellow card. Confirming yellow card Jürgen Klopp.
Paul Tierney: Right … I have to show you yellow. It could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. He said yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.
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The FA described Klopp’s comments as “highly improper and simply irresponsible” and “a particularly serious example of misconduct involving media comments about a match official.” It accepted Klopp had shown genuine regret in the aftermath and was proactive in addressing the matter at his next press conference and quick to admit the charge.
In a letter submitted three days after the Spurs’ game, Klopp said: “I am sorry for my reaction in that immediate moment when I ran towards the fourth official, Mr Brooks, and I fully accepted a caution was justified. Equally I am sorry for some of the tone and content of my post-match interview.
“Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this.”
Klopp added: “To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice. Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20% of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.
“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the buildup of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”
