EXCLUSIVE
‘FA got it wrong’ – Martin Keown believes Constantine Hatzidakis got off lightly after Andy Robertson ‘elbow’ episode
Martin Keown insists the FA got it wrong by not issuing a ban to assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis.
The match official was at the centre of a storm involving Andy Robertson during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
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Hatzidakis made contact with Robertson in what initially appeared to be an elbow on the full-back after the Scot aggressively approached him.
PGMOL carried out an investigation and confirmed that no action would be taken against the pair with Hatzidakis admitting he has since held open and positive conversations with Robertson.
But former Arsenal defender Keown disagrees with the FA’s verdict and says Hatzidakis should have been banned for his part in the melee.
“I don't believe the FA dealt with it correctly. Nobody really is above the law and that includes the officials,” Keown told talkSPORT.
“We have to be obedient to the law. The referee and linesman, they know if they react in that way there could be a level of trouble here.
“I don’t want to see a witch hunt and the assistant ending up in real hot water but I would have thought it would have been right and proper to have officially taken him out for two or three matches.
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There have been calls for harsher punishments for the pair while others believe Hatzidakis’ reaction was normal for somebody ushering away another person.
Keown is in no doubt that both the official and Robertson’s conduct was not one befitting of responsible match-day figures.
“I don’t think they’ve acted in the right way,” he added. "It doesn’t matter who you are, you have to be on the right side of the law and I don’t believe that he is in this instance. I understand he’s [Hatzidakis] a really nice guy, I actually feel he’s a top linesman.
“Robertson was completely out of order in all of this but he can’t react, because then he’s as bad as the players."
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