Referee calls in police after vile references to his cancer on Twitter
Halsey received the insulting messages on the social networking site Twitter, referencing his battle with throat cancer in 2009, after taking charge of Liverpool’s contentious 2-1 defeat against Manchester United.
And the 51-year-old has asked the police to investigate the matter, a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) spokesman confirmed.
Halsey made two controversial decisions, both of which went in favour of Manchester United, sending off Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey before awarding United a penalty, which was scored by Robin van Persie.
Two tweets were sent out by disgruntled Liverpool supporters following the game, both of which were met with outrage from other Twitter users.
One post, from an account named @johnwareing1, read: “I hope Mark Halsey gets cancer again and dies”, while another from @lfcjohn259 read: “Mark Halsey should’ve died of cancer.”
The national secretary of Prospect, Alan Leighton, expressed his union’s disgust regarding the tweets. His statement read: “Prospect wholeheartedly condemns the unacceptable abuse aimed at Mark Halsey on Twitter. The comments made by a very small minority will be seen as beneath contempt by all decent people.
“The main concern now is for Mark and his family.”
Halsey returned to refereeing in March 2010 following his battle against his illness and is due to officiate the Capital One Cup third round meeting between Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday tonight as originally planned.
Both managers had different views on Halsey’s decision to send off Shelvey for a dangerous tackle on United centre-half Jonny Evans.
United manager Alex Ferguson said of the decision: “I thought it was a clear red card.”
Rodgers, however, disagreed. “Jonjo Shelvey, if he gets sent off, then Jonny Evans has to go as well.
“I think both players’ feet are off the floor,” he said.
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