The Football Association will not investigate Jurgen Klopp’s comments about Manchester City, Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain. The Liverpool manager, speaking in the buildup to last Sunday’s 1-0 win against City, admitted his side cannot compete with the state-funded endless wealth of football’s three financial powerhouses.
Jurgen Klopp said: “What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible. Not possible. It is just clear, and again, you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football [Man City, PSG and Newcastle] who can do what they want financially. It’s legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want.”
Following the win over City, it was reported in a national newspaper that some at the Etihad believed Klopp’s comments were ‘borderline xenophobic’ due to his general observations around state-owned clubs like City, PSG and Newcastle, whose owners are from Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, respectively. The Reds boss though categorically refuted such claims.
Jurgen Klopp said: “I don’t feel, in this specific case, I don’t feel it at all. I know myself. And you cannot hit me with something which is miles away from my personality. If I was [xenophobic] like this I would hate it. I would hate myself for being like this. I have said a lot of times things that were a little bit open for misunderstanding, I know that. It was not intentionally; just sometimes you say things and you think: ‘Oh my God, it can be interpreted like this!’ But this is not one of these moments.”
According to BBC Sport, the FA has decided not to investigate Klopp’s original comments – a stance backed by anti-discrimination groups. They believe the lack of mention to race, ethnicity, nationality or culture from the Liverpool boss would support his defence. Klopp was charged by the FA for an incident of improper behaviour during the 1-0 win, when the Reds boss sent off by Anthony Taylor for reacting angrily to a missed foul by Bernardo Silva on Mohamed Salah.
