A leading referees’ charity has called for an inquiry into the touchline behaviour of managers after ugly scenes at several Premier League matches.
It came on a weekend where Merseyside Youth League games were postponed amid ongoing issues with referee abuse.
“People mimic what they see on TV,” said Ref Support UK CEO Martin Cassidy.
The Football Association is looking into incidents on and off the pitch at Anfield as well as Manchester United players surrounding referee Craig Pawson at Old Trafford in their draw against Newcastle.
“For years, we have said the dissension towards referees comes from the top down as well as the bottom up,” Cassidy added.
“When you see world recognised figures like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola behaving like that, it is then replicated by people in youth football and perpetuates the idea that it is OK to do it.”
Klopp apologised in his post-match comments but insisted his behaviour had been borne out of frustration at what he saw as the officials’ failure to award Liverpool a free-kick for a challenge on Mohamed Salah.
“Something snapped in that situation, I’m not proud of that – I deserved a red card, and the way I looked in this moment is not right,” the German, 55, admitted.
However, Cassidy, a Liverpool fan, said apologies would not suffice and that the League Managers Association must encourage its members to behave more respectfully.
“As far as I’m aware, the LMA has never put out a statement condemning this behaviour – is there a code of conduct? They have to take responsibility,” he said.
“The time has come to have some form of inquiry into the behaviour of people on the touchline – it goes on and on and I don’t think people understand the ramifications it has at grassroots level.”
BBC Sport has approached the LMA for comment.
While Klopp’s tirade towards the official running the line at Anfield was the highest-profile instance of dissent, it was by no means alone on a day packed with controversy.
His counterpart Pep Guardiola confronted Anthony Taylor when the referee, invited to consult his pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee, disallowed a City goal for a foul by Erling Haaland.
Elsewhere, Manchester United players angrily surrounded referee Craig Pawson for disallowing a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in their stalemate with Newcastle United.
There were similar scenes from West Ham‘s players at Southampton, castigating Peter Bankes for not ruling out Saints’ opener, while Hammers boss David Moyes said the VAR needed “to go to Specsavers”.
And Chris Kavanagh was also crowded by players from both sides at Elland Road in another game heavy on VAR intervention as Premier League leaders Arsenal beat Leeds.
The flashpoints are pictured below – and have your say on the issue.
‘Yellow cards for abuse the solution’ – Lineker
BBC Sport presenter Gary Lineker believes the problem of referee abuse in the professional game can be solved by the implementation of stricter punishments.
“I think you stop that by issuing yellow cards for any form of abuse whatsoever and then make it red straight after,” Lineker, who was famously never booked during his playing career, told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It’ll be carnage for a few weeks, but they’ll learn like they do, like they did with kicking players, you can’t do it anymore. It would work, I’m convinced of that.”
