The details of Arne Slot’s two-match touchline ban for a heated exchange have been revealed and most Liverpool fans will likely be thinking where’s the lie?
A contentions Merseyside derby on February 12 saw a string of controversial decisions made by referee Michael Oliver. It all culminated in Everton levelling the score at 2-2 in the eighth minute of five awarded minutes of stoppage time after Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté had been shoved over in the box.
That in turn led to a slew of heated post-match incidents, with Abdoulaye Doucouré saw red after charging off to taunt Liverpool fans rather than celebrating with his teammates while Liverpool’s Curtis Jones earned red for going after him and manager Arne Slot earned red for a heated incident with referee Oliver.
Following a hearing, the latter incident resulted in a two-match touchline ban for Slot, and today it had been revealed the key reason for that was him telling Oliver, “If we don’t win the league, I’ll fucking blame you.” To which Liverpool some fans might be inclined to ask the league and PGMOL, where’s the lie?
At the time it felt a result that might have shifted the title race, giving hope to top chasers Arsenal with Liverpool set to face Manchester City that weekend and the chance to shrink the gap to five if results went the Gunners’ way. In the end, results didn’t. Arsenal lost to West Ham, the Reds won, the gap widened.
Oliver’s match report further attested Slot told the referee, “[You] fucking give them everything,” while Slot claimed he told Oliver, “If we don’t win the league, I will have you to thank for that,” immediately before being shown red. The league has said Slot’s actions “Did not provide a positive image of the game.”
There have been further controversies surrounding Oliver since the Everton-Liverpool match, with the official not given a Premier League fixture for the upcoming round after his failure to stop play or immediately show red to Millwall’s Liam Roberts after his kick to the head that hospitalized Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Perhaps, then, the league and Professional Game Match Officials Limited should take some time to worry about how officiating to that unfortunate standard, and from the man we are all regularly told is meant to be England’s top referee no less, reflects on their desire to provide a positive image of the game.