No touchline ban for Rodgers after ref comments

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.”