Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel has recreated the infamous tweet that cost him £10,000 in 2011 as he vented his frustrations at the officiating in the Reds’ controversial 2-1 loss to Tottenham on Saturday.
Babel landed in hot water 12 years ago during his time at Anfield for photoshopping a picture of referee Howard Webb with a Manchester United shirt on after his side were dumped out of the FA Cup by their fierce rivals.
Webb awarded Man Utd a penalty in the second minute of the game, ruling Dmitry Berbatov had been brought down in the box by Daniel Agger while replays showed that no contact had been made.
Despite Liverpool’s protest, the penalty stood and Ryan Giggs converted from the spot. It would prove to be the deciding goal in a 1-0 game that saw captain Steven Gerrard sent off for a dangerous challenge on Michael Carrick.
Babel received a £10,000 fine from the FA for the post and was warned about his future conduct. However, now that he is playing in the second division of Turkish football for Eyupspor his social media activity can’t be pulled up by English football authorities and so the Dutchman took the opportunity to doctor a picture of referee Simon Hooper wearing a Spurs shirt on X.
He captioned the post: “Players of LFC should be allowed to post this picture tho… #LFC #SpursVsReds #PremierLeague.”
This comes after Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongfully ruled offside by VAR on Saturday. The PGMOL have admitted that a “significant human error” led to Diaz’s goal being chalked off by on-field officials and then the VAR team.
Despite footage suggesting Diaz had been played onside by the outstretched foot of Cristian Romero, no lines were officially drawn on VAR’s images and a decision was made quickly to deny the Reds an opening goal. Tottenham went on to win the game 2-1 after Liverpool were reduced to nine men with Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota being sent off in a game clouded by controversy.
