18 January,2011 09:22 AM IST | | IANS
Liverpool forward Ryan Babel has been fined 10,000 pounds ($15,000) for posting comments and a doctored picture of referee Howard Webb on Twitter.
The Netherlands international had been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association after he used the social networking site to criticise the official.
Babel was furious about the award of a first-minute penalty and the later sending-off of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in their 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester United last week.
He posted a mocked-up picture of Webb wearing a United shirt.
"And they call him one of the best referees?" he wrote. "That's a joke. SMH (shaking my head)."
Babel later apologised, but a regulatory commission imposed the fine and warned him as to his future conduct.
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