Dirk Kuyt has accused Premier League referees of double
standards
DIRK KUYT has accused Premier League referees
of double standards and called for officials to stop picking on
£35million Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll.
Kuyt voiced concerns that there was one rule for
Liverpool and another for their opponents, claiming the policy
dated back to Fernando Torres’s spell at Anfield, before lobbying
for referees’ governing body, the Professional Game Match Officials
(PGMO), to “look into the situation”.
Kuyt was dismayed by Carroll’s treatment by Martin
Atkinson during the 2-1 defeat by West Brom at the weekend.
Carroll was booked and several of his team-mates,
including Kuyt, urged him to calm down after he became increasingly
frustrated at being penalised for free-kicks which were not
reciprocated when West Brom’s strikers made similar challenges.
Atkinson awarded two penalties against Liverpool, but
Kuyt took no issue with those decisions, only the lack of
protection offered to Carroll.
“The referee was right with the two penalty decisions
but it appears that referees have problems with things our strikers
are doing – it was the same with Fernando,” said Kuyt.