A former chief executive of the PGMOL has made an astounding allegation against Virgil van Dijk in relation to his pre-match dealings with referees.
On Monday, Keith Hackett analysed a number of incidents involving the Liverpool captain over the last three years, off the back of the 33-year-old colliding with Rodrigo Muniz inside the penalty area during the Reds’ defeat to Fulham at the weekend.
The former top-flight whistler described the Dutchman as a ‘serial offender’ when it comes to sly or dangerous fouls which, in his view, receive a lesser punishment than what’s merited.
Hackett suggests Van Dijk may be luring referees ‘into a trap’
In the same piece for The Telegraph, Hackett also suggested that, when speaking to referees an hour before kick-off in matches, Van Dijk would try to sweet-talk them into leaning on the side of leniency when it comes to decisions involving him and (by association) Liverpool.
The ex-PGMOL chief said: “One of the things we need to understand is that, one hour before a game kicks off, Virgil van Dijk will, with his manager, go into the referee’s dressing room and be introduced. He will then be seen as a bit of a conduit between the officials and the players in terms of behaviour.
“I just wonder whether the conversations between the referee and Van Dijk are fairly amicable and that the referees are falling into a trap, but there is no doubt as far as I’m concerned that this player has become a serial offender and match officials are failing to apply the appropriate sanctions.”
An almost defamatory allegation against Van Dijk
Analysing on-field incidents is one thing, but to allege that Van Dijk may be luring referees ‘into a trap’ before kick-off is quite the accusation from Hackett.
We acknowledge that the Liverpool captain is no saint at times on the pitch, but to suggest that he’d be trying to influence match officials isn’t a claim which should be made flippantly.
The defender is within his rights to fight his team’s corner as best as possible, and if referees fail to penalise him or his teammates for in-game offences, they’re at fault for shirking their responsibilities as much as the player is guilty of flouting the laws of the sport.
Between the pre-match allegation and labelling Van Dijk as a ‘serial offender’, Hackett has launched quite the attack on the 33-year-old, whose wider reputation could suffer as a result.
Just as officials shouldn’t let players inluence them in conversations, let’s hope they’re not swayed against the Liverpool skipper off the back of what the former PGMOL chief has said.
