RAFAEL BENITEZ has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his reaction to the referee Phil Dowd’s performance during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham last month. If found guilty the Spaniard faces a fine and possibly a touchline ban.
The Liverpool manager was incensed by Dowd’s refusal to award two late penalties at White Hart Lane but mindful of the FA’s pre-season call for greater respect towards referees, he refused to elaborate on his comments about the official at the post-match press conference. Instead, Benitez removed his spectacles from his pocket and held them up to the media.
Benitez did criticise the fourth official after the game, however, when he claimed the 26-year-old Stuart Attwell was “too young” to officiate at Premier League level. Attwell had advised Dowd to dismiss Liverpool’s assistant manager Sammy Lee, a decision that has since brought Lee an improper conduct charge.
Yesterday’s action against Benitez, however, relates to “comments made about the match official immediately following the match at White Hart Lane”. He has until September 15th to respond. Liverpool were denied two late penalties, the first for what they claimed was a push by Benoit Assou-Ekotto on Andriy Voronin and the second for handball against the same player.
Liverpool had earlier drawn level through a penalty after Heurelho Gomes tripped Glen Johnson. Benitez said afterwards: “I think everyone could see there was a penalty, especially to Voronin. The third one, you could excuse. You can say the hand was to the ball or the ball was to the hand, it could be, but the other one was so clear, it was unbelievable. Can you get two penalties at an away ground? No. With this referee, I knew this was impossible.”
On Attwell, the youngest-ever Premier League referee and the man who awarded Reading the infamous “ghost goal” against Watford last season, the Liverpool manager added: “The fourth official is too young. I don’t know how old he is but he is still young. We had a meeting the other day, they said we cannot speak about the referees as a person, or about the decisions, but everybody could see the situation.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani is on schedule to return to full fitness. Aquilani was signed from Roma on August 9th, while recovering from ankle surgery. It was thought he would be out for a further six to eight weeks and after a scan to assess his recovery rate, the club have been encouraged by the results. Fabio Aurelio could be fit for the home match against Burnley on September 12th. Guardian Service
