[lfc-news] Defender escapes censure from FA - Post

Liverpool Daily Post, 5 Jan 2005
Defender escapes censure from FA
By Andy Hunter, Daily Post

JAMIE CARRAGHER will not face any disciplinary action from the Football Association in the wake of his criticism of controversial referee Mike Riley.

The Liverpool defender was incensed by Riley's failure to award Liverpool a penalty for a blatant hand-ball by Tiago in last Saturday's home defeat by Chelsea.

The same official was also responsible for the controversial penalty awarded to Manchester United against Arsenal at Old Trafford in October.

Carragher said: "If referees perform well, they should get the big games.

"But the fact is that he influenced the out-come of another game by bad decisions.

"What has happened here and at Old Trafford could prove the difference between Arsenal winning and losing the league. Referees must be held more accountable."

The FA closely studied Carragher's comments but have concluded that, despite his stinging assessment, the defender had not questioned Riley's integrity.

The incidents nevertheless prompted Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson to call for video technology to be used to help referees during games while Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez yesterday defended his player's reaction.

"What is wrong with what he said?" insisted Benitez; "Carragher is not only a good professional but a very clever player and I don't think he has said anything wrong.

"The question for me is how to resolve the problems, not worry about what has been said later."

Referees' supremo Keith Hackett said: "I've had one discussion with Mike. We'll be looking at things like positioning and viewing angles to see how he made the judgment that it was ball to hand."