Professional referee Mark Brown has been banned from officiating after he made inappropriate jokes about Liverpool and their captain Steven Gerrard.
The Championship ref is understood to have used Facebook to poke fun at the Reds’ midfielder and his side’s slim chances of winning the Premier League.
His boss, Mike Riley, has taken swift action – banning him for three weeks.
Brown is the latest sporting figure to have committed a social networking faux pas.
Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 for uploading a mock-up of referee Howard Webb in a Man United shirt following the club’s FA Cup defeat in January.
It’s believed Babel’s case prompted the swift action.
A source was quoted in the Metro as saying: “Riley was taking drastic action as there are many ways for referees’ integrity to be called into question.
“If Babel posts a picture of Howard Webb in a Man U shirt, then we can’t have officials making comments and jokes about players.”
Another Liverpool player, Paul Konchesky, has also fallen foul of social networks this season. After Liverpool fans criticised the defender’s performances, his mother Carol labelled Reds fans “Scouse scum”.
Konchesky was later shipped out on loan to Championship outfit Nottingham Forest.
Picture Credit: Nicholas MacGowan von Holstein on Flickr
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got political correctness gone mad what happened to thing we used to call………………………. FUN??????
Scousers are renowned for their sense of humour so stop getting so uptight you idiots at the FA. We know a joke when we hear one and can handle it. We’ve been putting up with ‘who nicked my ‘ubcaps?’ for years so get a life and stop seeing evil around every corner.
We know how to take a joke but it would be great if the referees could joke about utd down the road.