Sport

Rodgers fined for referee criticism

LIVERPOOL boss Brendan Rodgers has been fined £8,000 and given a warning about his conduct for his criticism of referee Lee Mason.

Rodgers admitted an FA misconduct charge after he said following the 2-1 defeat by Manchester City that the match should not have been refereed by an official from Greater Manchester. Mason is from Bolton.

An FA independent regulatory commission imposed the sanction and warned Rodgers as to his future conduct.

Rodgers said after the City match:

"Hopefully we don't have a Greater Manchester referee again for the Liverpool v Manchester City game. I'm sure we won't get somebody from the Wirral." Rodgers boss had subsequently clarified the remarks and said he had not queried Mason's ability to referee the match. "I was talking in terms of geography and I certainly wasn't questioning the integrity of referees," said Rodgers later. "I wouldn't suspect that Mike Dean, from the Wirral, has refereed many games for Liverpool over the years."