Alisson Becker has been fined £8,000 by the FA after accepting a misconduct charge for kicking the fourth official’s substitution board following Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
I understand that players cannot simply lose their heads and damage equipment.
Alisson crossed the line.
He accepted the charge, and the punishment has been handed down.
But there is one thing I cannot help thinking about:
Where is the punishment for the people who got the decision wrong in the first place?
Because the penalty that caused all of this frustration has subsequently been judged to have been the wrong decision. (Reuters)
And that makes the whole situation incredibly frustrating for Liverpool supporters.
Alisson was wrong to kick the board
Let’s get this out of the way first.
I don’t think Alisson should have kicked the fourth official’s board.
He’s an experienced professional and one of Liverpool’s leaders.
There are ways to express your frustration without damaging equipment.
So I have no problem with the FA taking action.
But £8,000 is a significant punishment.
And it feels particularly harsh when you consider what had happened immediately beforehand.
Liverpool were furious with the circumstances surrounding the penalty.
The fourth official’s substitution board had been delayed while Liverpool were trying to make a triple substitution, Forest restarted quickly and the situation eventually ended with Alisson being penalised for bringing down Neco Williams.
Morgan Gibbs-White scored the resulting penalty.
Liverpool were suddenly behind.
And the decision has since been judged to have been incorrect.
So why aren’t the referees punished?
This is the question I’d genuinely like answered.
When a player makes a mistake, there are consequences.
When a player loses his temper, there are consequences.
When a player makes contact with an official, there are consequences.
When a player damages equipment, there are consequences.
But when an official makes a major mistake that can directly affect the result of a Premier League match, what happens?
We are usually told that the decision has been reviewed.
Perhaps an apology follows.
Maybe the referee doesn’t get a particular appointment.
But supporters don’t see anything resembling the sort of punishment players receive.
And that’s where the frustration comes from.
The decision affected Liverpool
This isn’t about demanding that referees never make mistakes.
They are human.
Football is incredibly fast and difficult to officiate.
Mistakes will happen.
But there has to be accountability when those mistakes are made.
The penalty against Liverpool wasn’t some meaningless decision in the 15th minute of a match that was already won.
It put Nottingham Forest 2-1 ahead.
Liverpool eventually rescued a point through Víctor Muñoz, but they had to fight back again after falling behind.
And Liverpool were understandably furious about the circumstances.
That’s why I find the contrast with Alisson’s punishment so difficult to ignore.
Players pay the price
Alisson will pay £8,000 for his reaction.
Fair enough.
But what about the referee?
What about the VAR?
What about the officials involved in the decision?
Do they receive a financial penalty?
Do they have money deducted from their wages?
Are they suspended?
Are they publicly named and held accountable?
Or are they simply reviewed internally and then sent back out to referee another Premier League game?
That’s the part supporters don’t really know.
And perhaps that is the problem.
We need more transparency
I’m not suggesting referees should be publicly humiliated every time they make a mistake.
That would be ridiculous.
But supporters deserve to know what happens when officials make serious errors.
If a referee makes a major mistake, tell us what the review concluded.
Tell us whether the official has been removed from upcoming fixtures.
Tell us whether there has been additional training.
Tell us whether there are any consequences.
Give supporters some transparency.
Because at the moment it can feel like players are held to one standard and officials to another.
Imagine the roles were reversed
Imagine a referee making a mistake that costs a player £8,000.
We’d be asking questions.
Imagine a player then being told:
“Yes, we reviewed what happened and you were actually right.”
Would that player feel hard done by?
Of course he would.
And that’s essentially where Liverpool supporters find themselves here.
Alisson was wrong to kick the board.
But his frustration didn’t come from nowhere.
He had just been involved in a hugely controversial incident which contributed to Liverpool going behind.
And now the decision has been judged to have been wrong.
I’m not asking for revenge
I’m not saying the referee should be fined £8,000.
I’m not saying officials should be banned every time they make a mistake.
I’m asking for consistency and accountability.
If players are punished publicly, why can’t there be more transparency when officials make serious mistakes?
If officials are already being disciplined internally, then tell us.
If they aren’t, explain why not.
Because simply saying “mistakes happen” isn’t always enough.
Alisson deserved a fine — but so did the mistake deserve an explanation
There are actually two separate issues here.
Alisson’s behaviour was wrong.
Kicking the substitution board was unacceptable.
But the decision that sparked the frustration was also wrong, according to the subsequent review.
Both things can be true.
And that’s why I don’t have a problem with Alisson being punished.
What I do have a problem with is the perception that players are immediately held accountable while supporters are left wondering what consequences officials face when they get major decisions wrong.
Just tell us what happens
I don’t want referees to be scared to make decisions.
I don’t want every mistake to become a witch hunt.
But I do want the same basic principle that applies everywhere else in football:
If you make a serious mistake, there should be accountability.
Alisson has accepted his punishment.
He’ll pay his £8,000 fine and move on.
But Liverpool supporters are still waiting for someone to explain why that penalty was given in the first place — and what, if anything, happens to the officials responsible when they get it wrong.
Maybe that’s the question the FA should answer next.
Why is the player punished immediately…
while the people making the decisions seem to escape the same level of scrutiny?
Jamie (The Kopite View)
Why is there not a procedure in place to make a substitution when the boards fail? It worked for 100 years without boards!