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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp handed £45,000 fine for Kevin Friend comments

Klopp made the comments following a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the London Stadium. (Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

Jurgen Klopp has been fined £45,000 by the FA for his comments regarding referee Kevin Friend following Liverpool's 1-1 draw with West Ham United.

The English football governing body have handed down a hefty sanction after the Reds boss accepted a charge of questioning the integrity of a match official and/or implying bias - a breach of FA rule E3.

Klopp suggested Friend had attempted to level things up after missing an offside call in the build-up to the visitors' goal in a frustrating stalemate at the London Stadium earlier this month.

He said: "Our goal was offside, I'm pretty sure the ref knew that in the second half.

“In 50-50 situations or 60-40 it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy.”

It is the second time this season that Klopp has fallen foul of the authorities.

The German accepted an £8,000 fine in December for running onto the pitch as his side claimed a dramatic Merseyside derby win over Everton.

The Reds boss later apologised to opposite number Marco Silva for his actions, but was widely criticised for his exuberant celebration of Divock Origi's late goal.

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