Liverpool: Fans react as James Pearce slams Club World Cup referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim

Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to a tweet from James Pearce, as the journalist from The Athletic slammed referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim during Saturday’s Club World Cup final.

If Reds fans thought Monterrey were the masters of the dark arts, they saw a whole new level of football’s sinister side on Saturday evening, as Flamengo tried every trick in the book to get past Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita both missed chances early in the first half before the Brazilians wrestled back some control, but the match remained goalless throughout the 90 minutes.

As Pearce stated though, and with very little subtlety, it was the man in the middle who stole the show towards the end of the second-half.

FT: #LFC 0 Flamengo 0: Extra time to follow. Abdulrahman Al-Jassim taking centre stage. Joker.

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 21, 2019

After awarding a penalty to Liverpool for a foul on Sadio Mane, Al-Jassim reversed the decision with help from VAR.

However, the reversal looked to be because the foul occurred just outside the box, but he inexplicably awarded the ball to Flamengo and withdrew the yellow card given to the defender.

Check out some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

I love you James.

— RF9 🇧🇷 (@SambaRole) December 21, 2019

Is this match fixed? Genuine question?

— ^J^ (@Classy_Klopp) December 21, 2019

This has to be one of the worst refereeing displays of all time

— brendan riccardi (@BrendanRiccardi) December 21, 2019

I thought Martin Atkinson at old Trafford was bad but this is genuinely the worst refereeing performance I think I’ve seen. Scandalous

— Harry Beyer (@HarryBeyer29) December 21, 2019

He is absolutely loving being the centre of attention. Could see it from the off in how he was acting with players – all the gestures and little sprints when he gives anything !

— Giles Emson (@GilesEmson) December 21, 2019