Liverpool defender Andy Robertson seems to have been nudged by one of the linesmen of Liverpool-Arsenal with whom he had come to complain, at half-time of the match of the 30th day of the Premier League, this Sunday.
While the central referee had just invited the two teams to join the locker room with the score of 2-1 for the visitors, the Scottish international left-back approached the linesman Constantine Hatzidakis, obviously to protest according to the images broadcast by Sky Sports which broadcast the meeting.
The referee then appeared to raise his arm and touch the player’s throat or lower face, prompting another wave of protests from Reds around the referee trio. According to a Sky reporter at the edge of the field, Robertson exclaimed: “He elbowed me in the throat, the linesman elbowed me in the throat! “.
After the match, the organization in charge of professional arbitration in England indicated, in a press release, “to be aware of an incident involving assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis and Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson”. “We will study the matter in detail after the match,” he added. The incident happened after a tense end to the first half between the two teams.
The Gunners had nevertheless taken the lead quite clearly by leading 2-0 after less than half an hour of play, before Mohamed Salah reduced the score to 2-1. However, the match resumed normally after the regular break and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
This episode is reminiscent of the misadventure of Frenchman Tony Chapron who, in 2018, in the middle of a match, tackled a player who had just jostled him.
