Jurgen Klopp escaped a major ban after hinting that referee Kevin Friend had a direct influence in his team's draw against West Ham, but he was not able to escape a ban.
Speaking after the game between Reds and Hammers, the German boss blamed Friend for changing his judgement during the second half of that game, which resulted in a one-all draw. Klopp stated that Friend was cautioned by his bosses about a crucial mistake that had given Liverpool the lead, which was preceeded by an offside position. Since then, Friend's rulings on the pitch were biased towards West Ham, leading to the Hammers' equalizer.
Those comments were not overlooked by FA officers, and Klopp was slapped with a $58,000 fine, according to a statement revealed by football's governing body in England.
"Jurgen Klopp has been fined £45,000 ($58,000) after accepting an FA charge for comments made following Liverpool's league game against West Ham United on 4 February 2019. His comments made during a post-match interview breached FA Rule E3(1), as they questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or implied bias," the document states.
The coach will be allowed to do his job during this weekend's game against Manchester United, which could see the Reds climb back to the top of the EPL since Manchester City will have to postpone their match due to their League Cup clash against Chelsea on Sunday.
