Tottenham news: Ex-Fifa official issues major warning to ‘hammered’ Craig Pawson after controversial footage emerges
Craig Pawson needs to be more careful with his body language after his controversial reaction when Tottenham scored their late winner against Man City on Saturday (19 February).
That is the view of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the scenes after Harry Kane secured a 3-2 win for his side.
Fourth official Pawson was spotted by the cameras looking disappointed that City had conceded a late winner.
This raised questions over his integrity on social media and while Hackett dismissed those he did insist Pawson needs to learn from the incident.
He said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “He’s got hammered on social media.
“There’s no question on his impartiality with this guy but it highlights how careful you have to be with your body language.
“It conveyed disappointment and at the end of the day, you’ve got to avoid that.
“He’ll learn from that. The eyes of the world are on you. There’s a growing trend on social media about the integrity of match officials on social media.
“I’ve talked to referees in the past about body language and all those sorts of things. It was a glance and it didn’t look good. It doesn’t help.
“I would say that fans should be confident that the integrity of our English referees is top drawer around the world. I don’t question Pawson’s integrity.
“He’s allowed this to happen by a simple act, he needs to take care.”
In other news, a club are plotting a raid to sign a Tottenham star Jose Mourinho called a ‘genius’ and £25million will seal the deal.