The linesman who awarded Tottenham Hotspur a penalty was caught celebrating after the referee gave the spot-kick by performing a fist pump which was aired live on Sky Sports and recorded by sharp-eyed Liverpool fans.
Did he just celebrate giving a pen? 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/fGQpY3xOV6— Paul Lloyd (@Lloydy_lfc_2018) February 4, 2018
Linesman Ed Smart can be seen clenching his fist in a celebration-like gesture which seems to show his delight at the late penalty which was converted by Harry Kane to steal a late draw for Spurs after Mohamed Salah had put Liverpool 2-1 up in injury time with a piece of individual brilliance.
Even more controversy has erupted after Match Of The Day 2 showed footage of a conversation between linesman Ed Smart and match referee Jon Moss who is also coming under fire.
The footage which was subtitled and shown to BBC one viewers as pundits Mark Lawrenson and Jermaine Jenas covered the events in a post-match discussion on the popular premier league highlights programme.
Sunderland born referee Jon Moss has come under fire for his part in the late drama as he had originally waved away penalty appeals from Spurs players and play continued for some time until the linesman caught the attention of his fellow official after a Virgil Van Dijk foul late on.
It was the second penalty Spurs had been awarded in the last ten minutes of the match at Anfield.
The conversation between Moss and Smart discussing the first penalty was easily heard by millions of viewers and reads as follows:
Smart: "All I need to know is, did Lovren touch the ball?"
Moss: "I don't know"
Smart: If he did not touch the ball it iis offside, your chalking off the penalty. It has to be offside if Lovren has not touched the ball"
Christian Eriksen: "He did touch the ball"
Emre Can: "He didn't touch the ball"
Moss: "Just talk to me again"
Smart: "You now what I'm asking; I need to clarify, has Lovren touched the ball? If he has it's a deliberate action and therefore it's a penalty. If he has not it's offside"
Moss: "I have no idea if he has touched the ball to be honest.with you. Martin (Atkinson) have you got anything from TV?
Moss: "I'm giving the penalty".
Harry Kane missed the resulting penalty and the score remained 1-1 after Victor Wanyama had levelled for the Londoners before Salah netted his second and Kane sealed the 2-2 draw with his second penalty of the game.
The FA or Premier League are yet to comment on the incident but fans showing concerns of match fixing on social media will bring the sport into disrepute and questions will have to be asked of the standard of officials in the modern day game.
Referee Jon Moss has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons in the past after being branded a political pawn by former official Mark Halsey after being awarded the opportunity to referee the 2015 FA Cup final despite having what was described as a poor season.
Halsey slammed the choice to have Moss as the FA Cup final referee claiming the decision made no sense.
Halsey said: "I'm amazed they have given him the final.
"I would imagine that Jon Moss will feel a little sheepish tat he doesn't deserve it and Mark Clattenburg does" he added.
"I've got nothing against Jon he's a good lad, but I think he is a political pawn.
"I know some people don't wank Mark refereeing at the European championships.
"It's quite clear they want Martin Atkinson to go ahead of Mark Clattenburg.
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