Hatzidakis' elbow row: PGMOL suspends assistant referee; ex-EPL referees, Liverpool boss Klopp open up
Controversy surrounded the Liverpool-Arsenal EPL game on Sunday when assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis appeared to have elbowed Andy Robertson, as ex-EPL referees and Jurgen Klopp have opened up on the incident, while he has been suspended.
FollowOn Sunday, it was a gripping contest between English giants Liverpool and Arsenal in the English Premier League (EPL). The two settled for a competitive 2-2 draw at Anfield, despite the hosts being the far better side. However, what transpired before half-time of the fixture stirred controversy as some footage showed that assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis appeared to have elbowed The Reds' defender Andy Robertson.
As per the footage, it is seen that Robertson had a word with Hatzidakis, and the former probably pushed the latter, as the official responded by seemingly elbowing the Scotsman. Irked by the assistant's action, he further got at the face of Hatzidakis. He was yellow-carded by referee Paul Tierney, who he and other Liverpool players instantly questioned.
The PGMOL has confirmed that the matter will be investigated and has suspended Hatzidakis indefinitely. "PGMOL will not be appointing Constantine Hatzidakis to fixtures in any of the competitions it serves whilst The FA investigates the incident involving the assistant referee and Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson at Anfield," read PGMOL's statement.
Former EPL referees Mark Clattenburg and Mark Halsey have not taken Hatzidakis's action on a good note, with the former sympathising with EPL referee chief Howard Webb on the unwanted incident, besides asserting that the officials cannot lose their cool under any circumstances.
"Players can push us officials to the limit. They can provoke you to the point where you are probably tempted to give them something in return. But under no circumstances can we can respond. Certainly not physically. Hatzidakis did, and there will now be a clamour for him to be banned, given Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic is set to miss eight matches for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh last month," wrote Clattenburg for The Daily Mail.
In the meantime, Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp opened up on the incident, admitting that he hadn't seen it for himself but framed, "I heard the pictures speak for themselves. I didn't see it - I had time to watch it but didn't, so I can't answer you. I think there are some things we can talk about, but we had our issues with some referees. We haven't heard from the officials. They don't come to us. If we want something, we have to go to them. And I didn't want anything."
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