FA appeals against Klopp punishment after Liverpool boss escaped touchline ban

The Football Association has announced that it is appealing against the decision to let Jurgen Klopp escape a touchline ban for his behaviour against Manchester City.

Klopp was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor after screaming in the face of a linesman who was running past him. The German was angry that Taylor had not awarded Liverpool a free-kick when Mohamed Salah was upended by Bernardo Silva.

Rather than be given a touchline ban, as had been expected, Klopp was instead fined £30,000 for the incident. He had been found guilty of breaching FA Rule E3 and the Reds boss did not contest his charge, with responsibility for punishing him resting with an Independent Regulatory Commission.

But after they decided to hand out a lenient fine, rather than a tougher ban, the FA reviewed the Commission's written reasoning and have announced that they had opted to take up their ability to appeal against the decision.

"The FA can confirm that it is appealing against the independent Regulatory Commission's sanction in relation to the recent case involving Jurgen Klopp after reviewing its written reasons," a spokesperson said.

"The independent Regulatory Commission fined Jurgen Klopp £30,000 for breaching FA Rule E3 during Liverpool FC's Premier League game on Sunday 16 October 2022 against Manchester City FC."

HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Jurgen Klopp be handed a touchline ban? Comment below.

The decision to fine Klopp rather than add a ban meant that he was allowed to be in the dugout for the Reds' defeat at Nottingham Forest and their loss to Leeds United. If the FA's appeal is successful, that could see Klopp handed a touchline ban.

Before it was announced he had avoided a touchline ban, Klopp had insisted he was ready to accept the charge. He apologised for his behaviour, though admitted it was an emotional response.

"I am not sure if we can say we accepted it before it's official? We just replied in the right way I think, that's it. It is about emotion of course so red card, my fault, I went over the top in the moment," he said.

"I know myself, I am 55 and I deserve a red card. I lost it in that moment and it is not okay. I was sitting after the game in the office of Anthony Taylor and spoke, completely calmly, about all the situations. How I saw the game, how he saw the game. It was a completely calm discussion. That's the situation. I got a red card and now we wait for the process."

Klopp has been widely criticised for his behaviour at Anfield during the win over City. Former Tottenham star Garth Crooks slammed the German for his actions and called for stronger punishment for managers who abuse referees.

"Jurgen Klopp was sent off by Anthony Taylor amidst the red-hot atmosphere of Anfield last Saturday for an extraordinary verbal assault towards the referee's assistant," Crooks told BBC Sport.

"Klopp later apologised but the damage had been done. Millions of TV viewers had seen the incident and Taylor used the only means at his disposal and made his position clear by sending the Liverpool manager off.

"The referee handled the match brilliantly but why are managers increasingly allowing themselves to lose self-control but insist referees retain control of the fixture at all times? In order for the game to survive its integrity must be protected and that means the officials not being coerced or bullied by managers."

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