Mohamed Salah: Ex-Fifa official fumes over Liverpool controversy – ‘What are the guys doing?’
Liverpool were wrongly denied a penalty at Burnley after Mohamed Salah was tripped by Wout Weghorst.
That is according to ex-Fifa and Premier League official Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversial incident at Turf Moor.
Salah was left fuming in the first half of Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Burnley on Sunday.
As relayed by footage on Empire of the Kop (13 February), the Egypt captain felt he should have been awarded a penalty after contact on his right ankle from Weghorst inside the 18-yard box.
However, on-field referee Martin Atkinson did not deem the contact sufficient of a spot kick, and VAR official Darren England decided there was no clear and obvious error.
When asked by Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs for his analysis of the incident, Hackett said: “It was a penalty kick.
“I think Salah’s reputation plays into it. There is a little bit of that.
“It doesn’t matter where the ball ends up, but I wonder if that’s influenced Martin Atkinson’s decision.
“I’m really surprised that wasn’t given, or at least reviewed. I mean, what are the guys doing?
“He didn’t go down straight away but that’s momentum. It may well be Salah trying to stay on his feet. He was fouled.
“The basis of it is, was it a fair challenge? The answer is, it was not a fair challenge. It was a foul and therefore it should have been a penalty kick.”
In other news, a pundit has hailed Liverpool chiefs Klopp and Edwards after a £292million transfer reveal.