Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers fined for criticising referee after Man City defeat

LIVERPOOL manager Brendan Rodgers has been fined and warned about his future conduct after criticising a referee.

Big mouth...Liverpool's manager Brendan Rodgers watches as his team are beaten 2-1 by Manchester City during their English Pr...

LIVERPOOL manager Brendan Rodgers has been fined 8000 pounds ($8967) and warned about his future conduct after criticising a referee following his side's defeat at Manchester City last month.

Rodgers described the performance of referee Lee Mason and his officials during Liverpool's 2-1 loss on December 26 as ``horrendous'' and questioned why a referee from Greater Manchester had been appointed to oversee the match.

``Hopefully we won't have a Greater Manchester referee with Liverpool-Manchester games in future,'' Rodgers said.

``I was surprised we are playing in Manchester and have a referee from Greater Manchester. I am sure we won't get for Liverpool-Man City someone from the Wirral (near Liverpool).''

Rodgers was subsequently charged by the FA, which alleged that his comments questioned Mason's integrity.

The former Swansea boss was fined on Thursday following a hearing by an FA independent regulatory commission.

``Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been fined 8000 pounds and warned as to his future conduct after he admitted an FA misconduct charge,'' a statement on the FA's website confirmed.

``Rodgers was charged for a breach of FA Rule E3 in that his post-match comments following Liverpool's game at Manchester City on 26 December 2013 constituted improper conduct in that they called into question the integrity of the match referee, and/or implied that the match referee was motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute; and/or amounted to a failure to act in the best interests of the game.''

Rodgers, speaking in the days after the City match, insisted he had been trying to make a valid point about how referees are assigned to matches in the Premier League.

``In terms of geography, I certainly wasn't questioning the integrity of referees,'' he said.

``It was more the logic of it in terms of having a referee from that part of the world refereeing a game in Manchester.

``I wouldn't suspect that Mike Dean, from the Wirral, has refereed many games for Liverpool over the years.''