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Ref Suspended
Referee Rob Styles was disciplined by English soccer officials Monday after he erroneously awarded a penalty kick that allowed Chelsea to earn a 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
As a result of his mistake, Styles will be suspended for the next round of Premiership games slated for this upcoming weekend.
Liverpool's Steven Gerrard wasn't impressed with referee Rob Styles's penalty decision.
"It is just like with players — if they miss an open goal, they are likely to be dropped," English referees chief Keith Hackett said. "Having looked at a video and seen a better angle and a better view, clearly [Styles] now recognizes that he got it wrong and he's deeply apologetic for that.
"I think, in fact, he will be making contact with Liverpool in order to offer his apologies."
With Liverpool sitting on a 1-0 lead Sunday, Styles awarded Chelsea a penalty shot in the 59th minute, even though midfielder Florent Malouda appeared to jump into Liverpool defender Steve Finnan.
Midfielder Frank Lampard scored from the spot kick to tie the score as Chelsea went on to earn a 1-1 draw on the road.
The penalty decision caused a major uproar after the game, as Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard accused Chelsea players of intimidating Styles into making the call.
"A very, very unfair decision has got Chelsea a point today, but I think today's performance shows we are capable of challenging," Gerrard said. "I felt the referee didn't play well and he was under a lot of pressure from the Chelsea players and he cracked."
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez described Styles's decision as "unbelievable."
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had a different view of the penalty decision, saying that "Styles had a positive game."
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20th August 2007, 06:49 PM
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