Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has claimed television demands meant the first half of their 3-2 FA Cup fourth round defeat to West Brom was cut short.
Match official Craig Pawson added on just four minutes despite there being three major incidents requiring consultation with the video assistant referee – including a three minute 54 second delay in the awarding of a penalty – as well as two injuries and subsequent substitutions.
“What I heard was that the actual extra time in the first half should have been 10 minutes,” said Klopp.
“It was only four minutes. I heard that television said it’s not longer than four minutes.
“Of course that’s not possible: you cannot cut match time because there is something else to broadcast.
“I don’t know what was afterwards, maybe the news or something.
“It was 10 minutes and so you need to play 10 minutes longer. You cannot say it’s now a little bit too long.”
In response to Klopp’s claims BT Sport, who televised the match which kicked off at 7.45pm on Saturday, released a statement in which they said: “As broadcaster we have nothing to do with the decision that the referee makes about the amount of added time that is played in a game”.
