Ryan Babel has taken a cheeky dig at former Premier League referee Howard Webb following the news he married long-term girlfriend and Bundesliga Video Assistant Referee Bibiana Steinhaus.
Back in January 2011, Babel was playing for Liverpool in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester United in the FA Cup when Steven Gerrard was sent off in the second-half and Ryan Giggs scored a first-minute penalty.
Webb was the man in charge for the game and his decisions sparked fury among Reds fans while Babel, who now plays for Galatasaray, took to Twitter with a photoshopped picture of the referee in a United shirt, with the caption: "And they call him one of the best referees? That's a joke. SMH [shaking my head]."
The now 34-year-old posted two follow-up tweets in an attempt at damage control, writing: "My apology if they take my posted pic seriously. This is just a emotional reaction after losing an important game," and "Sorry Howard Webb!"
However, the Dutch striker became the first Premier League player in history to be fined after a Twitter post and he was slapped with a £10,000 penalty.
Now, Babel has taken to the social media platform once again and quote tweeted a story about Webb's marriage to VAR Steinhouse with the message: "I promise I won’t photoshop her in a club jersey".
I promise I won’t photoshop her in a club jersey https://t.co/jeCP3jZ6qD
— Ryan Babel (@Ryanbabel)
At the time, Kenny Dalglish was the Liverpool manager and called Webb’s penalty decision a “joke” while also disputing Gerrard’s dismissal, but his son Paul, the former Newcastle striker, went even further via his own Twitter account.
He claimed: “Fergie has his puppet Howard Webb on a piece of string.”
After the tweet, Holland international Babel was fined and handed a warning after being charged with "improper conduct" online.
In summing up, the regulatory commission chairman Roger Burden said: "Social network sites must be regarded as being in the public domain.
"All participants need to be aware, in the same way as if making a public statement in other forms of media, that any comments would be transmitted to a wider audience.
"It is their responsibility to ensure only appropriate comments are used."
