FA demand Jurgen Klopp explains himself over claims ref Kevin Friend was biased against Liverpool

The Anfield chief suggested Friend had attempted to make up for his side’s offside opener when James Milner should have been flagged in the lead-up to Sadio Mane’s goal.

After the game, which left Liverpool just three points clear of Manchester City and five ahead of Spurs, Klopp turned his fire on Friend.

In a post-match interview, Klopp said: “I heard 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.”

Klopp added: "As a human being, if I know I have made a big mistake in the first half, I don't want to open the gap any more. Referees are obviously human beings, and I understand that, but I didn't during the game because I had no clue that our goal was offside."

Klopp’s comments appeared a clear breach of FA regulations and seem certain to land him with a misconduct charge.

Under FA Rule E3, managers and players are allowed to “criticise the performance or competence” of officials.

But the regulations state: “A participant will be considered in breach of Rule E3 if their media comments about a match official imply bias, attack their integrity or are particularly personally offensive in nature.”

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By accusing Friend of seeking to balance up decisions after the break – and by implying the referee had been informed of the first half error – Klopp appears to have blatantly broken the regulations.

FA disciplinary chiefs have contacted Liverpool and asked the manager to provide an explanation for why he levelled such serious criticisim.

The fact that the FA have acted within 18 hours suggests Wembley chiefs are taking the matter extremely seriously.

Under regulations, the FA could have taken up to three days before contacting Klopp and Liverpool.

Klopp must reply by Friday, with the deadline for formal proceedings next Wednesday.

The Liverpool boss would then have until Monday February 18 to respond to the charge, with an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing having to take place by Monday March 4 at the latest.

The Commission would have the power to decide what punishment Klopp faces if he is found guilty.

Klopp’s only previous FA charge saw him fined £8,000 for running on to the Anfield pitch to celebrate Divock Origi’s last-gasp winner in the Merseyside derby in December.

That good record could yet save him from a ban but the FA is determined to clamp down on referee abuse and accusing Friend of bias is something Wembley chiefs will be expected to take extremely seriously.

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