Assistant referee Hatzidakis cleared over elbow incident at Liverpool

The assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis will face no further action from the Football Association following an apparent elbow on Liverpool defender Andy Robertson.

The incident occurred just after the half-time whistle had been blown during the Premier League draw with Arsenal on Sunday, with Hatzidakis reacting after being confronted by Robertson. Hatzidakis was stood down during the FA investigation but, having spoken with and apologised to Robertson, has now been cleared of any wrongdoing and is free to continue his career.

“We have thoroughly reviewed all of the evidence in relation to the recent incident at Anfield involving the Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson and match official Constantine Hatzidakis, and we will be taking no further action,” read an FA statement.

“Our comprehensive process involved reviewing detailed statements from Liverpool and PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Ltd), as well as multiple angles of video footage, in relation to both the incident and its surrounding circumstances.”

Hatzidakis is understood to have apologised to Robertson on a Zoom call on Thursday, with the Scotland international accepting that and his explanation for what happened straight away. Liverpool are also said to have been impressed with how the assistant referee handled it and PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer Howard Webb’s leadership on the matter.

Sky Sports cameras zooming in on the confrontation showed Hatzidakis seemingly throwing up his arm and making contact with Robertson, who gesticulated that he had been hit by the official. An irate Robertson was led away by teammates but, while he received a yellow card in the aftermath, it was the action of Hatzidakis that came under further scrutiny.

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