It hurts me to see someone I admire so much behaving like this' - Jurgen Klopp ‘brought shame on Anfield'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was sent to the stands for furiously berating assistant referee Gary Beswick. Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters

Jurgen Klopp has been accused of “bringing shame on the bootroom of Anfield” and behaving in a way that will deepen a crisis in grassroots referee abuse in England after he was sent off against Manchester City on Sunday.

The incident at Anfield coincided with one of their local youth league’s decision to cancel an entire round of matches on Saturday in protest at referee abuse, with English grassroots officials adamant there is a direct correlation between touchline behaviour in the Premier League and “an abyss of abuse” further down the pyramid.

Klopp was sent to the stands for furiously berating assistant referee Gary Beswick, having already been in the face of fourth official Andy Madley, and a charity representing grassroots referees is now also calling on the League Managers’ Association (LMA) to intervene over how its members treat match officials.

Ref Support UK also wants an inquiry into touchline behaviour and will write to the LMA to urge it to publicly step up.

The Liverpool manager acknowledged the red card was “my fault” but also claimed he was not disrespectful and again questioned how Beswick had not flagged for a foul when Mohamed Salah clashed with Bernardo Silva.

“I lost it in that moment and that’s not OK but a little bit as an excuse I would like to mention how can you not whistle that foul [on Salah]?,” Klopp said.

Dr Tom Webb, who has researched referee abuse in different sports and countries, has identified the frequent perception that “if coaches and players in the Premier League are doing it, it must be OK”.

Of the picture of Klopp shouting in the face of Beswick, Webb said: “It’s images like this that make people think referees are fair game.”

Martin Cassidy, the chief executive of Ref Support UK and a lifelong Liverpool fan, stressed it was not the first example of Klopp shouting furiously at a match official.

“It hurts me to see someone I admire so much behaving like this and, in my opinion, damaging the heritage of Liverpool Football Club,” Cassidy said. “I can’t remember seeing Dalglish, Paisley or Shankly behaving like this. He is bringing shame on the bootroom of Anfield with his pantomime antics.”